This is a year of firsts for me. At the beginning of 2020 I had never been to the Grand Canyon, I had never hiked ‘A’ Mountain, I had never been to a spring training game and I had never felt the hysteria of living through a pandemic. There is a first time, I guess, for literally everything.
I didn’t go home for spring break this year because my dad and stepmom came to see me that first weekend of break. We went to a Dodgers’ spring training game, and I was beyond excited. I took out my ironed Matt Kemp jersey from when I was in middle school (Yes, it still fits because I am still 5 foot 3). It was a horrible game but I laughed as I caught up with my parents and ate a Dodger Dog under a cool Arizona night. I can’t believe that was only three weeks ago.
I was fresh off of my Grand Canyon visit with my boyfriend and my ‘A’ mountain hike/workout when suddenly the world seemed to cancel. Sports, events, and travel plans were postponed and everyone was babbling about toilet paper. People were dying, grocery stores were emptying, and classes were going online for two weeks. Both of my jobs went virtual, and I spent my last day of spring break being trained on how to use Zoom.
What stressed me out the most was for a two week period no one really had any idea what was going on. I got an email almost every day stating a different thing. Both of my jobs sent out emails saying they weren’t sure if I would need to use my Zoom training and were quickly followed with a, why, yes, I WOULD need that training after all. The Cronkite School was also quickly devising a plan for the rest of the academic year. I decided not to go home, because I didn’t feel like taking a gamble with the unknown and I never thought it could get worse.
Well, it definitely got worse. With one parent on the West Coast and one on the East Coast, I couldn’t really make a quick move home like many of my peers. I don’t have a car, and I couldn’t risk getting on a plane since both families on each coast had someone who is immune-compromised. It was too big of a risk.
So, I stayed. The routine sounds of downtown that I was used to quickly disappeared. My friends went home one by one because it was announced that the two-week trial of online classes that it would extend until finals.
Some of my friends who already live here stayed, which was nice. Despite the absolute unknowingness of everything all happening at the same moment, I found comfort in knowing I wasn’t completely alone. Even if I fell asleep in my 500 square foot apartment by myself, I knew I wouldn’t be lonely in the morning because I would probably get a meme from my boyfriend over Twitter, a good morning text from my dad, or a call from my mom. My friends would Snapchat me, and I would see my classmates and meet their pets in our Zoom classrooms. Staying inside wouldn’t be so bad.
But just this last week, I managed to pack up my little apartment and make the move home. ASU offered a housing refund, and I took it. It’s been nice to be home, but social distancing inside my house is more difficult than I thought it would be.
Even though it has been a roller coaster of a week, I still have one certainty. I have absolutely no time for anything.
I am trying to make the most of my time while I am at university, so for most of this year I played on the Women’s Ultimate Frisbee sports club, I worked two jobs on campus, and I wrote and edited for the Downtown Devil. And when the world canceled, so were almost all of my required attendances. It’s one of the main reasons why I could leave ASU.
But I still have all of my remote work and homework, which has almost doubled in some classes because “I shouldn’t have anything to do or anywhere to be.”
Wrong! You think a pandemic is going to stop me from writing stories, working on my 15-page seminar paper, planning virtual events for one job while tutoring online for another, planning my summer internship, working on my internship application for next semester, or planning next ultimate season with unknown factors influencing every decision? Please.
My days are still long, and instead of running around from class to practice to meetings, my poor computer is yanked from Zoom call to Zoom call. I do not really leave my half moved-in and disheveled room except for food.
Despite everything, I do find myself on some nights begging my computer to make it through the six-hour Pride and Prejudice or binge watch some of my favorite movies on Disney+. Let me tell you, the movie Brave? Actual masterpiece.
My settings may have changed, my season may have abruptly ended before I wanted it to, and I may wake up every morning thinking of those who are suffering, but my world is still turning.
I am living through a pandemic. I hope I can live through a time when people work together to help the planet, and ourselves, heal.
But for now, I have to get back to my homework, etc, etc…
Contact the reporter at ldiethel@asu.edu
Lisa Diethelm is the Politics editor for the Downtown Devil while she studies at The Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication in downtown Phoenix. She grew up in California and started her journalism career in high school.
