Quarantine Reflections
Flash essays by two Seniors, looking back and to the future.
by Samantha Flaherty
The COVID-19 pandemic started when I was four months into being 21. I’m almost 23 now. It doesn’t seem like a long time, but over the course of a year filled with isolation and utter panic, I feel as though I have aged even more, my hands especially. It has been a year of ridding shelves of cleaning supplies and toilet paper, students of all ages learning and earning their degrees remotely, and expansive efforts to avoid even eye contact, let alone physical, out of pure terror and distrust. When my mother made me stay home so she could go, to what felt like war, for groceries, I could feel myself regress back to my childhood ways, being a scared little kid wondering if her mom would come home safely after entering a, potentially sick, madhouse.
At this point in time, I’m thirteen months and two weeks into the pandemic, and a graduating college senior. Despite the hell that has occurred, I still feel immensely proud of my accomplishments as a college student, and am elated that I was able to indulge in and study my passion of writing for four years straight. I’m grateful for all the beautiful souls I met along the way, and thrilled to say that some of them are my dearest friends. Though I don’t have any “crazy college stories,” I will forever remember and often recall my time at SSU. I entered as a Viking and will leave as a Viking, all the same.
by Xiaoyu Liu
I am dreaming in awake.
Sometimes I wonder whether the experience of coming to the United States and studying at Salem State University is a dream.
Looking back, everything seems so real. During the year of studying in the United States, I gained precious international friendship and help and support from CIE, writing center and my professors. When the epidemic started, I received the help and friendship as sweet as ice cream from the faculties of Marsh Hall. The sound of flipping books in the library in my memory was still clear.
On June 15, 2020, the moment I set foot on the plane and left the United States, I seemed to be on the verge of the dream. The joy and bitterness of studying and living in Salem State were still real. However, I realized that this kind of life was over. A dream called studying abroad was about to disappear.
After returning to China, I continue to take online classes. With 12 hours time difference, like through glass, I look at my past memories. Professors are still helpful. My peers are still nice. However, this kind of life is gradually passing away.
I really appreciate having a chance to study at Salem State University. I have gained a lot. I will always remember this temporary American dream in my life.
There is only one month before I graduate from Salem State University. With gratitude and best wishes to everyone, I will keep dreaming in awake in this month.