Note: These responses have been contributed by the public and reflect the opinions only of those who contributed. None of these responses reflect the opinions of the Harvard Political Review. If you would like to share your own stories about how you are being impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, we encourage you to do so by going to tinyurl.com/hprcoronavirus.
AT HARVARD
Brammy Rajakumar, Student, Virginia Beach, VA, USA
What does the “Harvard community” mean to you at this moment?
In the beginning of my first year here at Harvard, I felt very isolated. The transition from a small private school, where I had spent the past 12 years of my life knowing everyone around me, into a larger college environment where I knew no one, propped up a huge mental and emotional barrier in my mind. As the year progressed, I began to truly enjoy what I was doing, the events and groups I was able to access, and the people I met.
When the “eviction” news hit us Tuesday morning, the Harvard community, especially the first-years, truly overcame its social stratifications as we all tried to shove in five weeks of a semester into five days, checking in with everyone we had met and realizing about whom and how much we genuinely cared. I had never seen the community so dedicated to simply helping each other. Within literal hours of the news breaking, spreadsheets offering places to stay or store items popped up in hundreds of group chats and emails. Although I had been enjoying my time at college, it has been these five “closing days,” as my friends and I have liked to call them, that showed me just how caring and unified the community could be—which heavily contrasted with my adjustment to college in the past several months.
Why do we as students and staff not regularly ask others if they’re okay and how we can help upon seeing them? Why only now did mental health, unification, and care for FGLI/international, etc. students serve as a huge priority and concern for every student and staff member, especially regarding deadlines and internal support systems? Why only now were we thanking our teachers, the HUDS staff, and, most importantly, each other? I know that even my own adjustment to college could have been helped by this positive and supportive atmosphere—and now that I have seen the extent to which this community can mobilize and celebrate each other, why do we settle for less? Why are we even considering returning to the life of pretending that we are all doing fine every day, suffering under the power of “duck syndrome” and the delusion of ubiquitous happiness everywhere, as we assume the environment of everyone paddling furiously to stay afloat is completely normal?
We as students, we as a community, have the power to support each other, to serve each other, and to fight for each other, and when we unify as a community, we have the power to surprise even ourselves. Although this power was displayed at such an unfortunate time for all of us and under incredibly taxing circumstances, my faith in the Harvard community, the Ivy League community, and even the global community has increased tremendously, and I am now fully set upon embracing my next three years of college just as we all embraced those final five days on campus this semester.
Patrick, Student, Quincy, MA, USA
How has your life been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic?
As a result of the coronavirus, my lifestyle has changed significantly. I had gotten very used to hanging out with friends during and after school, playing sports, and working. Now, I am out of school for the next few weeks and deprived of social interactions with my “school friends,” who I come to miss more as time goes on. I have also lost my spring soccer season indefinitely, possibly the last one that I will ever have. The chances of my senior prom occurring are getting slimmer and slimmer, and even graduation is starting to look a little pessimistic. I have been searching for a new job recently, and it has become exponentially more difficult to find one because of the heightened unemployment as a result of the economic destruction that coronavirus has caused. As someone who also helps out elderly people, it hurts to know that I cannot see them for weeks, for my own safety and theirs. Everything is different. During these weeks of staying at home, I remain optimistic. I am attempting to better my lifestyle by reading more, working out from home, and calling friends on my phone. I have never been on Facetime more in my life. Everything feels so surreal. It’s like a movie that no one knows the ending to.
What does the “Harvard community” mean to you at this moment?
As an incoming first-year from Boston, I would visit Harvard’s campus a lot. I have met a few great friends already and many other members of the Harvard Class of 2024 through social media. At the moment, I am very happy to have such a strong community behind me. Everyone is in the same boat and we are all eager to fight through this pandemic with each other. We spend our days texting and group calling to help get to know each other better and destress ourselves. The community has been so welcoming and warm. I could not wish for anything or anyone better. Through our talks, we all hold mutual optimism. We know that this terrible pandemic will be gone one day. We know that better times will come.
How do you feel about Harvard’s response to the coronavirus pandemic?
I believe that Harvard’s response was necessary for the safety of everyone on campus. It was a very difficult decision to have to send so many kids back home in such a short period of time, but it had to be done. Harvard is filled with tourists and people from all over the United States and world. It would be illogical to keep the institution up and running without running the risk of having the disease spread. I believe that they should have definitely been more transparent about what they were going to do and give students more time to find flights and coordinate transportation. I am not experienced enough with the topic to have a complete opinion, but from what my friends have said, it has not been bad but not great either. In addition, I would like to say that my heart goes out to all of the seniors. It is a tough time for us all and especially them. I hope that there will be some sort of reunion after coronavirus is all over.
Gunnhildur Fríða Hallgrímsdóttir, Student, Ölfus, Southern Region, Iceland
How has your life been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic?
My mother got the coronavirus out of the blue with no idea how she got infected. I was in shock. We had suspected that her illness was just a regular flu, but now we would have to be in quarantine for two weeks. At first, the idea seemed daunting, two weeks of not leaving the house. Today is my 10th day of quarantine and I’ve learned so much about what it means to be human, and how much I love being around other humans.
I’ve been enjoying my time in quarantine. My mother is a philosophy teacher, so she emphasized not being angry about the things you cannot control, but rather trying to make the best of what you can control. So I decided to make the best out of my quarantine. I’ve been cooking, reading all of the books I’ve been meaning to read, organizing my home, playing the piano, and writing. I went out to untouched nature (since there is no one there) and discovered places I have never been to.
Usually, I would feel bad about not being productive, but now I’ve come to accept the relaxation, enjoy each moment I have, and make the best of it—so much so that I actually shared my appreciation for this quarantine on my Instagram, which got a lot of mixed reactions. It was almost like people were angry about me enjoying the quarantine, as if me being sad about it would help them feel better about being in quarantine. This, along with the various responses from each government, has taught me a lot about society and politics.
Donghyun Kwak, Student, Phoenix, AZ, USA
How has your life been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic?
I have been unable to be physically-active due to the closure of all fitness centers, and I am much [more likely to] to fall into depression because I am trapped at a house.
What does the “Harvard community” mean to you at this moment?
[The Harvard community] means a group of humans that is on my side.
How do you feel about Harvard’s response to the coronavirus pandemic?
I feel that Harvard has been irresponsible for closing the doors. The decision to remove students from campus was hasty and simply irresponsible.
NON-HARVARD
Evangelica Klein, Student, Allegan, MI, USA
How has your life been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic?
As a kid who’s struggling to pay for college, I wasn’t planning on going home for spring break at all. I was going to visit some nearby family when the college kicked me out of my dorm, and then [I was going to] come back once spring break was over. But when my college closed for two extra weeks after spring break, going home seemed like the best option. Now that they’re closed for the whole semester, I’m stuck a 16-hr drive away from my college with most of my stuff still in my dorm room and no news about when I can go get it.I’m stuck with a weeks worth of clothes and my laptop. And as soon as spring break ends, I’m expected to do my classes online, with no regard to this stressful situation: that some students aren’t even welcome at home, or that I may need to take a three-day trip on a moment’s notice to go pick up my stuff from my dorm hall. The only good coming out of this is that I better get a refund for some of my housing and meal plan. Right now all I can do is pray that I don’t fail my classes because of poor internet.
Any additional thoughts you want to share?
Forcing students out of the dorms, not officially, but by telling them that food may not be available as the semester goes on is frankly terrifying and horrible. My home life is less than perfect and is an awful situation for me to return to, but it’s better than not knowing if I’m going to be able to eat for the rest of the year. And knowing there are some students who can’t return home and are forced to live with that uncertainty is awful.
Chaze Vinci, Student, Franklin, Kentucky, USA
How has your life been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic?
We must defend and turn to our local communities during this time of crisis. While leadership from Washington D.C. has been scrambling to meet the demands of this challenge, state governors and local officials are setting shining examples of political leadership. Those most affected by this pandemic are those living right beside us, who strengthen and drive our local economies: small businesses, service workers, nurses, doctors, teachers, and so many more. Small businesses, the backbone of our economy, are now having to cut back hours or lay off employees to maintain their operations. I know because I’m witnessing this very process happening in my small town of Franklin, KY: my mom is facing reduced hours in her role as a hostess at a local restaurant. How we act as a nation over the coming weeks will determine the livelihood of our local economies.
We depend on my mom’s paycheck to make ends meet every month. My mom, and thousands of other low-income workers across the country, are having to make the decision between following national health guidelines and continuing to work for income. We’re in the midst of the greatest economic crisis we’ve faced as a nation since the Great Depression. Our country’s workers — hardworking, caring people just like my mom — need to be the focus of any economic stimulus package. We also need to protect our small businesses, entities that have guided so many to the American dream. This crisis gives us a rare opportunity to craft an economy that works for all.
Emma Anisman, Student, Villanova, PA, USA
Any additional thoughts you want to share?
“So, would you consider yourself adventurous?” I bit into my taco and half of its contents fell out the back. “Well,” I hesitated, washing down the bite with a swig of a margarita, “In some ways, yes, but honestly, not really.”
This is probably the most adventurous thing I’ve ever done. Two one-way plane tickets—more on that later—and a first date that I knew would be our last. There she sat, across from me, dark hair perfectly tousled by the sea breeze and wide brown eyes that I couldn’t quite meet, afraid I’d fall in. Finding myself in Miami across from this charismatic singer, a senior at my university who’d first messaged me on Tinder a week earlier, would have seemed miraculous under normal circumstances. But in the chaos surrounding the first appearances of the coronavirus in the US, it felt even more far-fetched. As I think back on it, writing this from quarantine, the surer I am that it must have been a dream.
Over the course of the week of March 8th, 2020, the lives of college students around the world, including mine, changed drastically. As colleges across the US cancelled in-person classes, I decided to extend my spring break vacation to soak up some sun in Florida (one-way plane ticket #1) before returning to Washington University in St. Louis (one-way plane ticket #2) to pack up my belongings and drive home, half-way across the country. We left the restaurant and walked down the beach in the darkness before making ourselves at home in a lifeguard stand. We talked for hours, legs dangling off its sandy side watching the waves crash, knees touching, shoulders touching, until we found ourselves shivering from the crisp air that the moon must have brought with it as it rose. I tried not to think about how much better this spontaneous, hopeless spring break date was than the many hopeful first dates I had weathered over the last year and a half. I tried not to think about what the future held for me and my singer, for this country, and for the world. I tried not to think about how many germs I would have liked to share with her. A slow walk back down the beach to her hotel. A chaste kiss goodnight in front of my Uber. Who knows, maybe I dodged a bullet and avoided heartbreak down the line. I may not be the most adventurous, but I know I sure would have liked to roll the dice and find out.
Benjamin Brock, Student, New Castle, IN, USA
How has your life been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic?
Having to leave my college, Ball State University, has been the biggest impact that COVID-19 has had on my personal life. I’m studying acting at college, so I’ve lost a lot of my favorite and the most effective parts of my education. So much of my usual classroom experience is hands-on and involves a lot of partnering that cannot be recreated digitally. As a result, many of my performance and application classes have been reduced to play analysis and self-recorded monologues. While these do have value, I’m already taking classes for those skills, and my performance classes are supposed to give me something different. The nature of live theater revolves around the gathering of people, so many people in my field are feeling uncertain and anxious about what this means for the future of our chosen field of study.
Any additional thoughts?
Now, more than ever, it is important to surround yourself with art that inspires you. This is especially true being someone who works in the arts, but I believe everyone has a creative engine. With everything that is happening in the world, it is easy to let that engine die, but if you keep giving it artistic fuel, then that engine just might carry you through this crisis.
Benjamin Krueger, Student, Princeton, NJ, USA
How has your life been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic?
The coronavirus pandemic means that no one in my family was able to be with my grandmother when she found out she had terminal cancer — and died in the hospital soon after.
Any additional thoughts?
The mismanagement of this crisis by the U.S. executive branch is criminal, and will do more to damage the United States than anything else in my lifetime.
Image Source: Getty Images/Maddie Meyer
