Pandemic Semester

This fall, despite millions of positive COVID-19 cases nationwide, many colleges and universities have welcomed students back with required testing and masking, quarantine dorms, strict limits on social gatherings, online dashboards to track the inevitable positive COVID cases, and a bit of wishful thinking. We asked three former Richmond magazine interns attending Virginia Commonwealth University, the University of Richmond and Virginia Tech to keep journals of their experiences during the first week of classes this fall. They share what life is like on campus during a pandemic, attending virtual and in-person classes, limiting their social interactions, and learning difficult lessons unlike any group of students in recent times.

Brandon Shillingford

Brandon Shillingford is a senior at Virginia Commonwealth University majoring in digital journalism.

Monday, Aug. 17

As far as first days of school go, this is the most unusual I’ve ever experienced. Usually, first days consist of last-minute shopping, mad dashes to an 8 a.m. class and quick pit stops by the student commons between classes for some Taco Bell or snacks from the POD Market. But not today. Today, I’m waking up at 10 a.m., making breakfast and sitting down at my computer to log on to Canvas.

For those who aren’t acquainted with the online platform, here at VCU we’re using Canvas to keep in touch with our professors (when we’re not on Zoom, of course) and stay on top of all our work. It’s described as a “modern Learning Management System that is open, intuitive, and was born in the cloud,” to achieve a “simpler and more connected learning experience.”

The first class of my day and semester is History 104. Some explanation as to why a senior is taking a 100 Level class: I chose to front-load my coursework with mainly mass communications classes, meaning that aside from my capstone classes, I’m basically done with my degree.

All of that sounds fine until you realize I have a plethora of gen-ed classes I need to complete before May. This includes my next and final two classes of the day, Fiction Into Film and Spanish 102. The latter is a byproduct of me choosing not to take a foreign language in high school — another brilliant decision by yours truly.

Tuesday, Aug. 18

So today looked a little different, I spent most of the day in Zoom university, with both of my classes (Spanish and Capital News Service) taking place through it.

As one of the capstones for the digital journalism concentration at VCU, Capital News Service (CNS) is a rite of passage for seniors and juniors in the program. It’s a class that gives journalism majors real-world experience and a chance to get published in major media outlets throughout the state and country.

I’ve heard from a lot of my friends who’ve gone through the program that it’s usually the most challenging class in our major, but given that it hinges on you going to events, reporting on protests and talking to people face to face, taking it in the midst of a pandemic means that it’ll be more demanding than ever.

Wednesday, Aug. 19

Today is my birthday. It usually falls somewhere before or during the first week of classes, but I can’t have a get-together with friends or family this year due to COVID-19. It’s a weird feeling, but honestly, with everything going on, it doesn’t bother me as much as I thought it would.

Plus, with many students walking around campus without masks and going to parties, I would rather be safe than sorry. Also, VCU, in my opinion, has done a pretty terrible job trying to convince students and parents that they care about keeping us safe, by barely enforcing the policy of wearing masks around campus. I get that many people feel the quality of their education has decreased, and hybrid/online learning takes away from the college experience, but the switch hasn’t affected me that much.

Thursday, Aug. 20

Yesterday ended up being one of my favorite birthdays ever. I went to The Boathouse for a nice dinner with my girlfriend, watched some movies, had some cake. It was the most subdued and low-key birthday I’ve had in a long time, but so fun.

I just came back from venturing onto campus during classes for the first time since March. During the summer, I’ve been around campus while protesting and driven through it to go to Carytown and other places, but actually strolling through campus feels like an out-of-body experience.

Walking past my old dorms where I lived for months, drifting through Temple Building, which houses the Richard T. Robertson School of Media and Culture, where I spent the bulk of the last few years going to class and doing homework with my friends — it’s insanely sad, but I’m glad I got the chance to do it since I probably won’t be on campus much this semester.

Also, looking at what the campus has morphed into again, it’s a little disheartening seeing so many new faces so disconnected from and unaware of the paradigm-shifting change and upheaval that has taken place in this city over the past few months. Many young organizers who are my age and even younger have been pushing for radical and inspiring change. Just a few weeks ago, people were marching down Main Street. While there are still movements going on around campus, VCU has primarily become a place for students again, with some going to parties during a pandemic, and some who don’t care about the Black Lives Matter movement — or anyone else, for that matter. It’s crazy how a space can change so quickly.

Friday, Aug. 21

Yesterday, I ended my night by attending my copy editing class over Zoom. It’s a nearly four-hour class, but I’m grateful that my professor put us all at ease by saying the class will never go for the listed length.

Today is going to be an interesting day, I only have my one history class, but it’s also the last day of my summer internship, which is really sad. I worked as a copywriter for a physical-therapy marketing company called Practice Promotions. It was honestly one of the best jobs I’ve ever had, and I’m really sad my time there is coming to an end.

“This little diary may or may not soon become the entry logs of the last man on Earth.” —Brandon Shillingford, VCU

Other than that, it’s probably going to be a pretty uneventful day.

Update: I just saw on Twitter that eight students have tested positive for COVID-19, and there are 36 confirmed cases on campus. So this little diary may or may not soon become the entry logs of the last man on Earth.

Saturday, Aug. 22

I wish I had something more eventful to share with you for my final diary entry, but today I went to get some dinner with my girlfriend, and we went to Scoop in Scuffletown for some ice cream.

This whole week has been a strange mix of exhaustion, anger and fear, but I’m pretty hopeful. Why? I have no clue. Nothing most of my peers or the people in our country have shown me in the past few months should make me feel that way. But I feel like there are more good and honest people who care about others and will do the right thing than there are bad ones. And at the end of the day, that’ll be the thing that gets us through all of this.

Emily Carter

Emily Carter is a senior at Virginia Tech majoring in multimedia journalism. She is also the lifestyles editor of Tech’s student-run newspaper, the Collegiate Times.

After three years at Virginia Tech, I’m no stranger to the university constantly changing for better or for worse to adapt to the evolving world, but I never expected that a global pandemic would drastically affect my last year of college. The first week of classes was a roller coaster, but I have a feeling everything is downhill from here.

Sunday, Aug. 23

I woke up and got ready to go to campus to work on the print version of the school newspaper. I’m the only lifestyles editor on the staff, so I felt that I had to be there in person. A few weeks before the newspaper’s production, our editor-in-chief told us that only eight people could be in the room, and we had to stay 6 feet apart and have our masks on at all times.

I drove to campus, the first time I had been there since March, and walked to Squires Student Center. I noticed that chairs and tables had been placed 6 feet apart, and there was tape on the floor marking where the furniture had to be. I walked into the newsroom to create our “Welcome Back” section — most, if not all, of the stories were coronavirus-related.

One of my friends ordered food from the dining area downstairs, and I walked with her to pick it up to see how that process had changed. Students had to wait in a socially distanced line to order and pick up their food. They could also use the Grubhub app to order food in advance, including snacks and drinks. We walked downstairs to the dining area and had to leave the building and walk around to another entrance because students could only enter and exit one way. While I waited for my friend to pick up her food, I stood on one of the dots placed on the floor so students could maintain social distancing and looked around. Everyone seemed to keep their distance from each other.

That night, I held a section meeting with my writers over Zoom. I didn’t have Wi-Fi in my apartment yet — my router was scheduled to be set up the following week — so I had to use the Wi-Fi from my apartment clubhouse, and it kept cutting out.

Monday, Aug. 24

I got ready for my only in-person class on campus, digital newsroom. My goal was to take the bus 40 minutes before my class started because I didn’t know how many people were allowed to be on it at the same time. I got on the bus, and fewer than 10 people were riding. I got to my building and started to walk inside to sit down when I noticed that all of the chairs and benches had been replaced with small tables and folding chairs. I walked back outside to sit before my class started.

After waiting for a bit, I entered the classroom. The seats were not 6 feet apart from each other because the classroom was a computer lab, but the tables were separated by clear, thick plexiglass. After going over the syllabus, my professor told us we were going to have a refresher course on how to use the camera equipment. She said the camera, tripod and microphone we would be using had been sanitized, but it still felt strange touching equipment that hundreds of students have touched and will repeatedly handle throughout the semester. After class I used hand sanitizer and took the bus home.

Tuesday, Aug. 25

I woke up 30 minutes before my 8 a.m. class, rolled out of bed, made my coffee and was ready to start the day. The first Zoom class went great. I used the clubhouse Wi-Fi and turned my camera off so I could have a better connection. My second class, Topics in Literature by Women, not so much. The clubhouse Wi-Fi was too weak for me to use my camera (which was required in this class), so I had to use the hotspot from my phone. I got a notification that my data had been used up for the month. I called my dad after class to apologize for going over the data limit, and he was not happy.  

“I noticed that the campus was very calm and quiet, and it felt weird and depressing to me.” —Emily Carter, Virginia Tech

That night, my roommate and I were on the phone with the Wi-Fi router company and our internet provider for over an hour trying to set up the Wi-Fi, but we had no success. I was frustrated. How was I supposed to do my schoolwork if I didn’t have an internet connection? I went to bed and planned to fix the Wi-Fi the next day.

Wednesday, Aug. 26

My roommate was told that the reason the Wi-Fi in our apartment wasn’t working was because the ethernet port in her room was broken. We hooked up the router in my room, and it worked for my roommate, but I was having trouble connecting it to my phone and computer.

Thursday, Aug. 27

I was unable to attend my 8 a.m. class, Broadcast Management, because my computer somehow disconnected from the Wi-Fi. I was in class for a few minutes before the internet cut out. I tried to use the hotspot on my phone, but I couldn’t connect it to my laptop. I ended up calling a friend in the class, and she put me on speakerphone so I could listen to the lecture. I emailed my professor to apologize and explained my situation. He was very kind and hoped he would see me in class on Tuesday.

After my first class, I decided to play around with our Wi-Fi. I was able to connect it to my phone successfully, but to be on the safe side, I took the bus to campus and had my second class using Virginia Tech’s  Wi-Fi in the newspaper office.

Afterward, I went home to eat and then came back to campus to work on an assignment with friends. We were supposed to film popular spots on campus and interview each other about how the landmarks captured the Hokie Spirit. How were we supposed to film “spirit” when no one was on campus and most students felt sad that their time in college was being impacted by the coronavirus? I still felt strange touching the camera equipment, but I doused my hands in sanitizer. I noticed that the campus was very calm and quiet, and it felt weird and depressing to me. I wasn’t used to seeing my second home like this.

Friday, Aug. 28

During the day, I did homework and cleaned the apartment. That night, I heard people singing and screaming outside of my apartment complex. I also saw tweets that freshmen were walking to parties without masks. I knew people were going to party, but I never thought I would see and hear so many reports about it.

Saturday, Aug. 29

Today, I just did homework — of course, all of my assignments are homework now, because all but one of my classes are online. It was a nice day outside, and I noticed that a lot of people were in the pool area of my apartment complex. I counted at least 15 people, none of them wearing masks or social distancing. That night, I had a friend over. Neither of us wore masks, and we sat next to each other on the couch. I thought nothing of it until I thought I heard my roommate say, “They’re not wearing masks” to her mother, who was also in the apartment visiting. Neither of them was wearing a mask, either. I wasn’t sure how to react because I didn’t know if I’d heard my roommate correctly. It feels like information is constantly changing, and while I know that I’m supposed to wear a mask out in public, I didn’t think I was supposed to wear a mask in my own home.

Every few days, I get an email announcing an increase in the number of COVID-positive cases and a message from the university president telling us to defeat the virus with “Ut Prosim,” Virginia Tech’s motto, “That I may serve.” I fear that it’s only a matter of time before the university becomes completely remote, and I attend my final year of college through a computer screen.

Olivia Diaz

Olivia Diaz is a senior at the University of Richmond majoring in journalism and global studies. She is editor-in-chief of the student newspaper, The Collegian, and is a student reporting fellow at the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.

Monday, Aug. 24

When I woke up this morning for the first day of my senior year at the University of Richmond, I was not anticipating opening my blinds and seeing a parking lot of 15 quarantine trailers. My new bedroom-window view is a daunting reminder of the risks of taking in-person classes during a pandemic.

Keeping COVID-19 at bay has become a part of my morning routine. I completed my daily symptom evaluation and checked my temperature. Classes can be taken either in person or virtually through Zoom. But I also got an email notifying me of a national Zoom outage, impeding students’ ability to attend class virtually. Thank goodness, I passed the evaluation and got cleared to go to in-person classes.

Walking around campus to my classes was probably the most social interaction I have had since March 2020. I would pass by friends, professors and mentors I had not seen in six months. My usual 10-minute walk across campus took 20 or 30 minutes. I was blinded a bit by hubris and the ability to talk to someone without a computer glitch. I did not want to pass up the opportunity to catch up on friends’ lives and to tell them how much I missed them. After all, an outbreak could occur tomorrow, for all I know.

In-person learning this semester looks very different than what I have come to know these past three years. In my history course on Nazi Germany, each seat was exactly 6 feet apart, and everyone had to wear their mask at all times. Four of my classmates were attending the class virtually, and their webcam images were displayed on a monitor at the front of the classroom. There were wipes for in-person students to disinfect their seats before and after class.

This morning, I was so apprehensive to go to class for fear of contracting COVID-19. I am ending the day feeling, dare I say it, healthy. I hope that the rest of the week stays like this.

Tuesday, Aug. 25

There is something truly special about starting your morning class with a blanket in your lap and a university-provided couch as your desk. My first class today, Documentary Journalism, will be entirely online this semester at the discretion of my professor, even though the majority of my classmates are also on campus. In this course, my classmates and I will be making a documentary about an important subject that the UR community should know about. It is a bit difficult to film a documentary, given that social distancing is in place, masks could muffle sound and we cannot rent any equipment. Students are also asked not to go off campus throughout the semester, nor are visitors permitted on campus. Did I mention that three of my classmates are remote students who live outside of Richmond? It is quite the conundrum.

My next class was a biology course titled Emerging Infectious Diseases. I thought it would be a timely subject, if anything. This class takes place in an auditorium, and everyone has to sit in the same seat every class so that the professor can monitor contact tracing, should someone become ill.

My two friends and I met on a grassy hill behind my apartment after class to have a socially distant dinner. We each brought a portable beach chair to make sure we had something to sit on as we ate. Sitting on folding chairs on a grassy slope while trying to eat a slice of pizza was not easy. But it was wonderful simply to see friends who for so long were so far away from me.

Wednesday, Aug. 26

I found myself struggling to find somewhere to eat on campus for lunch. The Heilman Dining Center and the Alice Haynes Room Dining Hall are set up with buffet lines, where students do not touch the food yet get their meals at a proper social distance. At other on-campus dining locations, we can either wait in line for our food or order it online via Grubhub. The lines were a bit long. I was nervous about deciding where to eat and whether to stand in line for the dining hall. I decided to go back to my room and eat Cheez-Its, some ice cream, a cut-up raw pepper and anything else I could find in the refrigerator.

“Walking around campus to my classes was probably the most social interaction I have had since March 2020.” —Olivia Diaz, University of Richmond

In returning to in-person classes, I am finding that I need to prioritize time management. I have been learning to set aside times throughout the day to get food from dining locations before it gets too crowded. I also have been trying to block out a period of the evening to disinfect my backpack and other everyday items.

In-person classes are great because I get to sit in a classroom and be in an academic environment. However, it is a responsibility, too. I need to make the health and safety of myself and others a priority. All these new measures that I need to apply to my daily routine to keep people safe can seem overwhelming, but they’re doable.  

Thursday, Aug. 27

I made it through the first week of school. Hallelujah! Although I know the workload will begin to pile on my desk soon enough, I still think I got through this week with panache, which is a relief.

My biology course had a lab period today that was scheduled to be three hours long. Our lab periods are now only an hour and a half long, with half of the students going into the lab for the first 90 minutes and the other students taking the latter hour and a half. Our experiments and what we can learn in the lab will be different, but I am excited that we still get to do some sort of hands-on activity.

UR’s vice president of student development, Steve Bisese, emailed students today, writing that our decisions this weekend will impact UR’s “ability to protect the health of students, staff, and faculty and to continue on campus this semester.” I looked on the COVID-19 dashboard and noticed that there were only two active cases of COVID-19 on campus. It is pretty incredible considering that 3,000 students moved in just this time last week.

I hope this weekend goes well and that we can stay on campus. I intend to get a head start on homework and catch up on some reading (it may be nerdy, but it’s true). I may hang out with some friends; up to four students who live in UR apartments are permitted to go into other students’ apartments as long as they wear a mask and follow social distancing guidelines.

Before COVID-19, when I would walk across campus on a Thursday night, I would hear loud music and see groups of 10-20 students standing outside their dormitories ordering Uber or Lyft rides. Tonight, as I walked across campus, it was silent. Everyone was tucked away in their living spaces. Not a party in sight.

Although this week was different than anything I have ever experienced these past three years, I had missed being in Richmond. After the first week, I have realized more than anything how happy I am to be home.