Interview by Julia Popowych

COVID-19 has changed the way our world has functioned. Universities worldwide have closed their physical campuses moving all classes online for the last half of their spring semester. Many students returned to their hometowns and back in with their parents, often settling into their childhood bedrooms, but some RIT students stayed in Rochester to finish out their semester.

Why did you decide to stay in Rochester instead of going back home?

Matt: I wanted to be closer to my support network. So in terms of both academic but also a social setting, I just wanted to be around the people that I’m used to in order to finish out this year and really have as little disruption to my academic life as possible. In addition to that, where my parents live back in Massachusetts, just didn’t look like a very good place to be. There were very high infection counts and very strict social controls. And I agreed with my parents that it probably just wasn’t the best time for you to be home right now.

Marili: Park Point would not let me end my lease, so I am still required to pay rent. So why not stay if I am paying rent. It also happens that my friends also stayed in Rochester, so I have people to hang out with. I don’t really have many friends in CT.

Henry: My mom has asthma and is more at risk than most for developing critical symptoms if she were to catch corona. By staying up here, I can lower the number of people she interacts with face to face and her chance to catch it. On top of that, moving back would be quite an effort, and I think that moving in the middle of a international pandemic would not be the smartest move.

Sam: So I stayed in my apartment in Rochester during the first week of online classes, and I stayed to clean up the house and gather some more belongings before going back home to PA. I also thought being home alone would make things easier for me, but I quickly realized that wasn’t the case.

Do you think staying here helped you with academic work?

Matt: Definitely, there have been some challenges. Obviously, it’s hard to stay motivated and hard to stay engaged in online classes. But being at home is a hard environment concert in because it’s just such a different mind space. And then also having the concerns and worry of more of a crisis situation I think would have been far more detrimental.

Marili: I would say yes because I had friends here who are able to help me with homework and photoshoots. When I go home, there really isn’t anything to do or much to look at. So being in Rochester helped with the creativity.

Henry: Yes and no, being on my own is good for my work ethic, but bad for my sleep habits which affects how much work I can do.

Sam: When I stayed for the week it definitely did not help my academic work. I liked the thought of being closer to campus, but everyday I found myself sitting on the couch with my laptop hooked up to the TV instead of doing my work.

Do you worry about your family back home?

Matt: They’re smart. But you know they’re older so I worry about them. Thankfully, my dad’s been working so my mom doesn’t have to go out too much. So they are a low risk factor, but I still worry.

Marili: No, not really. They are doing fine when it comes to work and staying at home. I don’t have much family but I know that the family I do have is safe and doing fine.

Henry: Constantly, I’m mostly up here because I’m worried.

Sam:  I was slightly worried about my family back home in PA, because my dad still has to go to work and I always worry he may get sick. I’m more worried about my mom in California, because she is taking care of my grandma, who has dementia and is currently in hospice, and I worry if my mom has to go out to get anything she could put my grandma at risk.

Did you have housing in Rochester already, or did you have to find that?

Matt: I didn’t. So I did have to scramble a little bit for housing. Thankfully, my big, in my fraternity Ryan, was moving away, he had to go back home to his family. So I just took over his lease, and thankfully, everything worked itself out without many issues.

Marili: When everything happened, I already had housing at Park Point. Since Park Point isn’t an RIT apartment, I wasn’t required to leave or move out. So, I didn’t really have much trouble with that. What as hard was trying to find housing for next year. Me and a few other people have been trying to get a house to rent but it gets a bit harder when you are not able to actually see it in person. But everything actually worked out.

Henry: I already had housing.

Sam: