Pandemic Voices in Time, Suspended

More days, weeks, months, and years into the COVID pandemic than anyone could imagine, three Red Skies staffers share their thoughts about their lives, interrupted. Sophomore Cristianna Libby grapples with being isolated and navigating college; Junior J.G. Bova wonders if maybe he'll be gone before things are back to normal; and transfer student Delia Cullity looks ahead with hope and the calm that comes with life experience.

Sometimes, it feels as though no matter how many assignments I submit, or how many grades I receive, I’m not a real enough college student. No matter how long I’ve been out of the Shrewsbury High School hallways, I still feel like I need to rush to Treble choir at 7:35 in the morning or else I won’t have a seat. It feels like I have to go back to almost a preschool mindset, where I have to relearn how to socialize in a learning environment, because if you asked me today to name any of my classmates or tell you what they looked like I would have no answer. I don’t understand the panic of cramming for an exam, and I can’t tell if that’s because I’m finding material easy or because I’m not in the panicked setting. I keep trying to remind myself that I’m nearly 20, and I’m doing all I can in a time when there’s only so much I can do, but I don’t even know if I’m doing that right. My mom can give all the advice she wants, but how would she know what it’s like when she was going to college in the 80s? How could my brother help when he’s been to two colleges, and he lives in an apartment by his campus? How can my dad give any input when he’s never been to college? How can I get feedback from people going through the same thing when we don’t even know how to reach out to each other to share our experience and help each other? How do you reach out when you don’t even know where to look? The worst part is, that’s not even half the struggle.

~ Cristianna Libby

College life is rapidly changing all around us. Our campus is scattered beyond the boundaries of the buildings and quads. Some people are still fully remote, some are hybrid, and some are “in-person.” Being a student of the latter, I have found that being on-campus sometimes doesn’t feel the same as it used to during my first year. Being in-person means being physically-distant from others despite the fact that we have the option to be here in person. I am glad the university is taking proper precautions, but learning does not feel the same as it used it. It is hard to read the faces of teachers behind a mask and I do not feel like I know my peers as well as I used to. On the quad, I see the community like I remember, but inside the buildings I feel a bit sad to know that this is where we have to be with our classes. I yearn for our learning to be unobstructed by COVID and all that comes with it. I want to see people get better and I want to see a world without constant worry of this virus. I want to go to school without worry for this virus. Please let me see a year of college without it.

~ J. G. Bova

Going back to college was an important decision for me since hopefully it will lead to the type of career/lifestyle that I am passionate about- exploring creativity and literature and being inspired by other artists and writers. Being fully remote, I think that the main things I’m missing are the campus events and speaking directly with my professors. I’ve gotten so much out of each class, especially the English ones such as World Drama, and am feeling like I want to explore my interests regarding art and theater more. I live on Cape Cod, which is a lovely place to be, but it doesn’t have as many cultural events as somewhere nearer to Boston. I have some anxiety surrounding driving in cities, so that is one area where I will have to challenge myself during the Spring semester. 

~ Delia Cullity