Corona Letters #16

Dear Fellow Quarantiners,

As we all know, colleges around the country shut down suddenly with the outbreak of the coronavirus, sending scores of college students home in a stunned state.  Today I will be interviewing our resident college student, Sophie Lee, about her experience with this sudden change of course.
Sophie is a junior at Brandeis University in Waltham, MA.

Me:   Hi Sophie, thank you for joining me this evening.

Sophie:  You're welcome, I had to cancel a lot of very important things to be here.

Me:  Well, thank you.   First of all, I know tonight was supposed to be opening night for a show you were in at school, a show that had deep personal meaning to you.  Instead of being on stage, you ate dinner with your parents and grandmother.
Can you tell us a little about the show and how it feels to be missing it?  Also, how was dinner?

Sophie:  Well it was actually quite symbolic that we had Korean food this evening, as the show I was supposed to be in was about being Asian! The play is called "Asiamnesia" by Sun Mee Chomet and is about the representation of Asian women in American theatre and film. The show was to be put on through the Brandeis Theater Department as part of the annual Senior Thesis Festival, which was of course cancelled. As important as this show was to me, it was more important to the girl whose senior thesis this was, so I've been thinking of her today. The cast was comprised of four Asian American actresses, including myself and the girl whose thesis it was, and our director was also Asian American. This was my first, and probably only, opportunity to work with so many other Asian American women on a piece of theatre and it's sad that I may never be a part of something so meaningful to me again. But I guess eating Korean food for dinner is the next best thing.

Me:  I hope you have another chance to work with another Asian-American group on a show.  Maybe your own senior thesis?   Speaking of senior year, you were supposed to go abroad next semester, which may or may not happen.   How does this virus make you feel about going abroad?

Sophie: Seeing as the deadline to propose a senior thesis has passed, I don't think that is an option for me but who knows what other people are doing! As for going abroad, it's going to be a very difficult decision. I have friends that are a year below me and will be going abroad in the spring, so if I go abroad in the fall, I will never be in school with them again. Additionally, the thought of only having one more semester to do a show after having done theatre for so many years is pretty heartbreaking. At the same time, I don't want to give up the opportunity to study in a new place and have experiences that I could never get at Brandeis. I know that either way I'll have regrets, I just have to decide which regrets will be bigger.

Me: Do you think things will be different when you return to school?  If so how?

Sophie: I guess that depends on whether I go back to Brandeis in the fall or spring, but either way I'm sure things will be different. I know that I will never again have the urge to stay in bed and skip class,  that's for sure! I'm sure that there won't be as much sharing of food/drinks among friends, frats will let less people into their parties (hopefully, but who knows how much logic exists in a frat boy's mind), and dining halls will take more sanitary precautions. It's hard to predict how exactly things will be different, but it won't be the same.

Me:  That's a very thoughtful response.  I think your generation of college students gets a bad rap, especially because of a few irresponsible spring breakers in Florida.   To me, it seems like the majority of college students are handling this unfortunate turn of events very well.   You know more college students than I do.  How do you think most are handling the situation?

Sophie: While all of my friends are smart enough to stay inside and listen to what officials are telling them to do, that doesn't necessarily mean that they're doing well. It's hard because obviously there's a lot of people that have it worse than college students, so for the most part we know not to complain too much and to just try to persevere. In reality, from conversations I've had with my close friends, it's been really hard. Being away from the people that you're used to being around 24/7 and not knowing when you'll be able to see them again is really hard. I think that the biggest problem amongst college students has been finding motivation to get school work done. It's hard to be doing college level assignments from your childhood bedroom. Unfortunately my teddy bears don't know much about Chekov.

Me:  And you?  Do you know about Chekov?

Sophie: Yes. You can Zoom into my Theatre Texts and Theory class with me if you'd like.

Me:  Um.  I think I'm busy then.    You mention your friends in the above answer.  Was it difficult to leave them so quickly and say goodbye with a moments notice?  What do you do to stay in touch?

Sophie: It was hard, but at the time that we left, I thought that I'd for sure be able to visit them in the coming months or over the summer. Now it's quite uncertain when I'll see any of them again. As for how we stay in touch, we text throughout the day, maybe send each other funny tweets or Instagram posts. But once everyone's parents go to bed at night, that's when the party REALLY starts. Everyone is done with their schoolwork for the day and it's prime time for FaceTiming when no one else is using the wifi. It's also a great time to sneak down to the kitchen for a second dessert.

Me:  That's where all the ice cream went!   Just one last question, have you changed out of your pajamas today?

Sophie: That's a little personal, Deborah.

Me:  Thank you for all your thoughtful responses.   I feel like I learned something tonight.   It's been nice to have you home.  You are an excellent cook and thank you for helping me dye my hair tonight. I will miss you when you go back to school.

Sophie:  You're welcome, thank you for having me! I'm sure you'll be just fine without me. I saw your Margarita mix stash in the garage.

Me:  Yes. And that better still be there when you leave! <3