“And, Suddenly, It Was Over…” By Rosmany Placeres

I always thought that my freshman experience would be an unforgettable one… but not in this way.

The fall semester of 2019 was, for me, a sneak peek at what college was going to be like for the next three years. By the end of that semester, I was starting to get more adjusted to the new routine and expectations. I looked forward to my spring semester: I was already acclimating to college life, becoming comfortable with classes, and I had also just made new friends. When the coronavirus was first announced I did not really pay much attention to it, because I thought that it was impossible for it to spread so fast. Then came the immense and horrible news that coronavirus had 80 positive cases on Long Island, and students became frantic. The coronavirus pandemic abruptly cut my freshman year short.

Every student capable of moving out was ordered to move out of Hofstra University dorms. Everyone needed to rush out, creating enormous logistical difficulties. For a lot of students, including myself, it was impossible to move out right away. My parents’ car is not large, so I had planned to take my belongings home in stages; the moving-out process turned out to be extremely stressful. Once I was home, COVID-19 continued to have a severe impact on my studies. Instead of attempting to study in my dorm, I previously used to go to the basement of the Hofstra Library; the library had been my safe place to study, since I was able to sit where I wanted and focus on my reading quietly. The campus also had other places available that had allowed me room for learning and concentration -- sometimes I used to go to the lounges in the tower, for instance, which also gave me a lot of privacy. Losing the ability to use these spaces created a major challenge, and being forced out of the Hofstra campus and told to go back home gave me a deep uncertainty about the rest of the semester.

The new online learning environment was also a difficult adjustment. I had never taken remote online classes before, and I had never used Zoom; like many other students, I essentially had to educate myself in a short amount of time to get accustomed to this new platform. My personal experience with classes online was that the amount of work significantly increased. I had to teach myself things that I did not really understand, while classes were in session. This has been really exhausting, since students do not get the same type of direct attention from professors through their screens, and because professors are also overwhelmed themselves.

The coronavirus has changed some of my personal plans too, like the ones that I had for my birthday, which was on June 2, since everything was closed. The plan had been to travel to the Dominican Republican with my family, but New York is still on pause as I write this piece, two and a half months after the Hofstra campus was closed, and flights are restricted. I return to the Dominican Republic, where I was born, at least once a year (I came to the United States when I was nine years old). I always go visit my family from my mother's side, since they all continue to live there. I love spending my time in the Dominican Republic because it is so warm, and I live next to a river where I can hang out. I would usually spend my afternoons by the river with my family. Now, instead, I had to spend my birthday where I currently live, in Brooklyn, New York. I was not able to do much, because New York City went into curfew—a day before my birthday—because of the protests and disturbances that followed the police killing of George Floyd in Minnesota; the curfew remains in effect.

Coronavirus did not only affect my semester, study patterns and summer plans; it also affected my employment and my daily habits. I used to have a strict schedule before all of this happened, organized around classes, work and exercise. I am no longer able to work for Public Safety, the position I had at Hofstra up until this crisis, since all campus student employment was suspended except for essential personnel. Luckily, I was able to keep working remotely as a student fellow of the Center for “Race,” Culture and Social Justice, attending campus events via Zoom and reporting on them, and writing blog entries such as this one, among other tasks. I was selected among a group of NOAH students for the position of Student Fellow at the Center, and I have held it since my first month on campus back in September 2019. My core role at the Center was to aid the directors in the organization of the multiple public events they have each month, assisting with flyer distribution, room arrangements, food orders, etc. as well as serving as liaison between the Center and the NOAH Program and the larger campus student body. I hope the Center can resume its activities in the fall semester, and continue to be a place for assistance to all of its students.

Staying at home has been a difficult experience. On the positive side, however, I believe that I will be more ready when it is time to return to campus, because I have developed certain independent study habits, and the ability to overcome some of the learning challenges on my own. I have also combined successfully exercising at home with reading many more books, and I try to limit myself on the time I spend on Netflix. Yet, not being around my friends has been very hard for me, and although I still get to Facetime them, it is not the same as being with them in person, and traveling to places with them. I am truly eager to resume my campus experience at Hofstra in the fall, and look forward to see how I might reflect upon this time of crisis once it is all behind us again.

Rosmany Placeres is a first year student in the NOAH Program, and she has served as a Student Fellow of the Center for "Race," Culture and Social Justice this academic year.