- The food in the dining hall is not as good as it usually is. Gone are the toaster, the stacks of bread, the waffle iron, the panini press, the tubs of Hershey’s ice cream, and, most tragically, the salad bar. Everything comes in styrofoam, plastic, or cardboard containers.
- I’ve eaten almost every meal outside. It’s lovely, especially now, as the breeze is cool and the grass is damp but the sun still hugs me like a soft sweater. I love scheduling meals with friends.
- I spend a lot of time in my dorm room. Last year, I had fun finding new study spots all over campus: the Shafer basement, the third floor of the library, an empty conference room in Lulu. But my room is the only place where I can breathe freely without a mask, so it’s where I usually am.
- There are three beds in my room! I have a triple! It’s pretty awesome. I disassembled one bed and tucked the pieces in my closet. There’s a dresser on its side under one bed. All my bookshelves are in the closet. Two desks and my bicycle are off in the turret section of my room, and my windows look over the grassy Munger Meadow. Through the trees, I sometimes recognize friends heading between Lulu and the Academic Quad.
- My dog is here. I brought her to college as an emotional support dog. It’s been almost three weeks, and she is settling in, barking less and less, and snuggling as well as ever. Her name is Tootsie, and she has too many friends.
- Crew will practice only three times a week, not six, and we won’t compete. My first practice is tomorrow morning.
- One of my courses is remote, and the other is in person, with desks spaced 6 feet apart and all of us wearing masks. It’s been so nice to be back in the classroom. My classes meet twice a week for about two and a half hours. Only taking two courses at a time makes it easy to schedule when I’ll get my work done, but overall, I haven’t decided whether I like this more or less than the semester system.
- The first few Shabbat dinners have been on Zoom, but we still get kosher meals catered every Friday. I’ve had so much fun Zooming into the meal with some friends out on the Quad. The community is alive and well!
Tootsie looking cute on my expansive floor
Tootsie enjoying Zoom Shabbat
I biked to get non-dairy soft serve yesterday with some friends! Weekend bike rides have been a highlight.