The COVID-19 Life on Residence
Written by: Sarah Campbell
@eatingalotofbanana
Photo by: Sarah Campbell
While most people have moved back home over the past few weeks because of COVID-19, some of us are still living on-campus in our cubical rooms daydreaming of human interaction. With little to keep occupied, some have developed unique hobbies— such as mastering TikTok, attempting to break the Guinness world records for the longest movie marathon (the seat is currently held by Suresh Joachim with 121 hours and 18 minutes, anyone interested?), or decorating the wall with pop cans from Dockside takeout.
Are you wondering how SMU residents are living their lives in these “me, my dorm, and Dockside takeout” times? Yes, that’s right! Dockside is now only offering takeout meals. Let’s take you through the experience.
A few weeks ago, you would line up outside Dockside with other hungry bellies during serving hours. You would cherish this time as you got to see people and briefly feel the loneliness slide away. “So, how’re things going?” you would ask, knowing that there was basically only one answer, “bored”.
But I still attempted on one chilly, overcast afternoon. “What have you been doing?” I turned to Brandon Kupankuwana, “Online gaming. I play while also interacting with friends. Oh! There are also ways to stream movies with friends on Netflix.” He then went on to explain that it’s Netflix Party, where you can watch shows on Netflix with friends who are far away. The SMU podcast, Knowledge For Students, is hosting some Netflix Party nights as well, they post the times and movies on their Instagram page.
Fisson Tibbo who came down the elevator, which now is only accepting 2 people per ride, jumped in and said, “I have been spending a lot of my time talking to God through prayer and also talking to friends through phone calls. This has helped me a lot and actually takes up a good chunk of time and fills me with joy.” Linh Tran slid languidly and joined the line, he was rocking the sweat pants look of the quarantine “Yeah, I’m so thankful that most of my friends are still living on the same floor as me, so sometimes it doesn’t feel as lonely as I thought [although] we still practice good social distancing. It’s just so important to keep in touch with people you care for.”
“For real. Keeping in check with your soul and people at this time is really important.” I added, asking, “With all this free time are there any unique hobbies that you guys have developed over the past few weeks? I mean for me, my dockside pop can collections have been a great wall décor project…” I sniggered at the thought that a whole side of my wall was now filled with at least 50 pop cans.
“I recently taught myself how to play the ukulele. Honestly, one of my best decisions but I feel so bad for my pod mate because I have a messed-up sleeping schedule and I […] play the Ukulele all the time” said Linh. Knowing her, I could actually see her tossing and turning at 3 am in the morning then rolling up from her bed in the dark and brushing the strands of her ukulele.
“I bought some novels, I read them because I am bored. And I am looking into painting right now,” said Zainab Bakare who had been listening to the conversation. My mind started to drift. Does that mean that a university campus should be really boring to set for academic success?
“Well I wasn’t that much of an avid reader, but books could be quite peaceful and occupying during this time. I personally was reading the title ‘The Reinventionist Mindset’” said Brandon. “The title, huh?” I couldn’t help but chuckle. Well, maybe not all boring times breed bookish loving minds; some settle with the title.
“I would say that the whole quarantine has become a time of reflection more than anything else. With social distancing, the only person you’re with for 100% of the time...is yourself. With the lack of social interaction, there’s really nothing to distract you from the hidden aspects and flaws that you may try to run from.” Said Tarik LaRoda, who had just gotten his meal, the chef’s special. My mind started to wonder as I began to guess what the chef’s special for the day was. The chef’s special is one out of the five meal options students get to choose from for lunch and dinner, it is always a surprise and usually tastes the best. But many of us have felt what Prayers Chitika said, “I wish there was more choice for the chef’s special, like two meals, because it’s the healthiest option available and if you don’t eat what’s there that day you’re forced to have pizza or a burger.”
My attention turned back to Tarik, who was now talking about how he was learning to cut his own hair! “Because of this I’ve actually spent a lot of my time trying to learn useful skills, like barbering, specifically cutting my own hair,” Tarik continued, “What better time to learn how to give myself a fade or trim? Especially, since nobody was gonna see me in person, might as well learn without fear of messing up. Sure, I SEVERLYYY messed up the first few times, but I can honestly say every time I cut, I learn something more valuable and helpful that makes the processes easier the next time.”
“Wow so what do you think about cutting my hair, Tarik?” I asked, half-jokingly.
“Hahaha, I don’t think you want that, Sarah. Oh, the chef’s special today is spicy chicken curry!” He added, changing the subject.
“Aww I am craving spicy food; I hope it’s good.” I smiled, still thinking of a way to convince him to trim my hair.
“Guys, Dockside takeout is quite convenient, but I also couldn’t help but notice the drop in the quality of some food. We only had a few options now to juggle with, and I usually get horrible drink selections from them, especially root beer. But really appreciate the workers who were working through this crisis,” said Brandon.
“I like Dockside takeout. There is not a lot of food I’d admit, but there’s a wide variety in the paper bag they give. You get a snack, a dessert, the actual meal and a drink,” said Prayers, “I wish the pasta option was still available, though. Besides that, I enjoy the food.” To be frank, everyone misses the pasta station and the “pasta guy”, Juan, at Dockside. There was always a long line for the pasta station during meal times, waiting in line for 15 minutes or more became a daily routine.
“The dessert, salad and drink in the paper bag are definitely something I look forward to. It’s like opening up Christmas presents, a surprise every time. But it is so hard on the environment with its individual packaging! Like why are they giving us disposable plastic cutlery every time? Novel viruses are on the rise because of humans’ environmental impact, are we trying to speed up the process?” At this point, I was starting to get a bit heated. As I often get frustrated with us humans being nearsighted for the future of our world’s well-being in terms of the environment, and I can’t help but see the great impact of our actions.
“Environmentally, I think they did as much as they could, in such circumstances there is really not a lot of ways to package food,” said Brandon trying to give me an acceptable answer.
“There are better ways. But yeah, they are trying…” I was still not convinced, but complaining wouldn’t help. That’s why I decided to stop getting the bag and opted to just get the main meal, which is packaged in a compostable container. Knowing that I had chosen to stand by my beliefs gave me reassurance.
“Guys! Social distance!” yelled one of the workers in Dockside, reminding us to keep 6 feet away from each other. I suddenly felt the need to rant on the difference between social distance, social distancing and physical distancing, but I was getting hungry so I let the matter drop.
We got our meal, Brandon peered in his bag and sighed, “Root beer again… Who wants it?” We smirked and shook our head. Apparently, no one likes root beer.
While walking back to our residence, Zainab said, “you know, if I had known I would be stuck here, I would have brought a pressure cooker and a rice cooker. If I had that I would not be this bored, even though I am an introvert, I am still really REALLY bored, like seriously!”
“Yeah, it’s insanely hard to stay motivated cuz it gets pretty lonely. But one way I get motivated is […] to finish at least one task and then take a break and reward myself with something like food. It works for me, but it's still hard to stay motivated,” said Natasha Fernandes who had just gotten back from a walk around campus.
“Ah, if I had known I would be stuck here, I would have tried getting myself a girlfriend lol Got tired of talking to walls in this lockdown…” Brandon said, shaking his head. We all burst out laughing. Maybe that’s why Japan made these compassionate robots to combat loneliness.
Just like that we chortled back to our cubical rooms and continued with our lives here in SMU res. Until the next meal, bisou.
*The interviews have been edited for clarity and the narrative is the product of the author’s imagination.