An Online Week in the Life of College Student
With everything going on my schedule has changed immensely. I am in my second year at the University of Montana and live in Lewis and Clark Village. I am currently enrolled in 21 credits and wasn’t prepared to be pushed into an online world. Here is what my week looks like now that I stay at home 24/7, work, and go to class online.
Tuesday
My first day documenting my week began with me snoozing my alarm. Normally I would have to get up at 7:00 A.M. to make it into my job on time. I am a work-study student at the City of Missoula and due to COVID-19, I am able to work from home. Being able to roll out of my bed, grab my laptop and be at work has led to many more snoozed alarms in the morning. I try to get up at least 15 minutes before I “go” to work. I have learned that I need to get out of my bed and go to the living room to work and change into “real” clothes.
I worked till 12:00 P.M. and then reheated some rice and chicken for lunch before class at 1:00 P.M. My classmates and I always get on to Zoom early so we can have some social time before our professor shows up. Besides calls to my mom, this is the most social interaction I have throughout the day. After class, I have a work meeting for my job as an ASUM Neighborhood Ambassador, then an ASUM committee meeting and some homework to finish up (I wasn’t successful at getting anything done).
Since I have more time at home I try to stick to my skincare routine. I don’t have a lot of I am taking this time at home to try to cement some good habits I have been missing from my regular non-stop routine. I finished the day with binge-watching the Real Housewives of New York (my guilty pleasure).
Wednesday
This morning I had to get up at around 7:00 A.M. and had to finish a paper that was due for my 10:00 A.M. class. After my classes for the day which are from 10:00 A.M. to 3:00 P.M. On Wednesday I normally have Debate practice at 5:00 P.M. but completely forgot until 5:15 so skipped.
I am in a high-risk group for COVID-19 so I have to be very careful about minimizing my exposure so I decided it was time to look into ordering groceries. After much research (I texted my mom) I choose Walmart curbside pick-up for Saturday from 8:00–9:00 A.M. Along with food I also ordered hair shears so I can trim my hair. I spent a lot of time today googling the best way to cut wavy hair. The last thing I want to do is ruin my hair. I also ordered some new clothes from American Eagle that included $6 bobby pins.
Today has definitely been a hard day here stuck at home. I have been pretty bored today and definitely are struggling with the quarantine blues. It doesn’t help that I’m struggling with some allergy symptoms so I feel like my head is stuffed with cotton. I am strangely looking forward to leaving the house Friday morning to get a shot. I am a very extroverted person and so have been coping by watching a mass amount of YouTube and reality TV shows to feel like I am involved with people. I am going to try steaming my head to help clear up my nose and hopefully feel better tomorrow.
Thursday
This morning I slept in for an extra 30 minutes which is just so much easier now that I work from home. I hopped in the shower and blasted music while getting ready. Even though my “office/classroom” is 10 feet, at most, from my bedroom I was still 5 minutes late to work. Last night I wasn’t feeling 100% so I woke up to a messy kitchen. This was definitely set me back. I have been trying to keep my apartment as clean as possible now that I never leave. It’s important for me to have these routines (even when I don’t follow them) because it makes my apartment a little more bearable to never leave. I live alone in a three-bedroom apartment and am not used to doing all the cleaning everyday.
I ended the night by ordering some Buffalo Wild Wings because it was buy one get one. I made sure to pack some Clorox wipes and hand sanitizer which is definitely not my normal. My grandma (bless her heart) made me a face mask to wear as well. As soon as I got home I wiped everything down and threw away any containers that came from Buffalo Wild Wings. Same as every night I laid in bed and watched some reality TV.
Friday
This morning I had a doctor’s appointment at 8:00 A.M. I had to wait in my car till I got a text message saying I was allowed to come in. As soon as I walked through the door I got my temperature taken. This was truly a sign to me that times have changed more than I ever realized. After I came back home from my appointment I went back to be until class at 10:00 A.M. After class I made some sugar cookies and in a safe, socially distant manner delivered some of them to my friends. The afternoon was very busy: I had two meetings one right after the other — which is a lot harder to rally through when you sit at home all day.
After my meeting, I had a video call with my mom, sister, and dad. It was a very comical experience that started on Facebook Messenger and ended on Zoom. Tomorrow is going to be a super busy day so I am hoping to just relax the rest of today. The longer this week goes on the more it is hitting me how much things have changed.
Saturday
This morning I went to Walmart to pick up the groceries I ordered earlier in the week. After I came home and washed all my laundry which took me a lot longer than I planned. There was about 2 weeks worth of clothes in the hamper and a bunch of rags from cleaning every inch of my house. While I washed my clothes I cut my hair. This was originally supposed to just be trimming my bangs but ended with about 2 inches coming off my ends. After my DIY haircut, I took a shower and then watched some TV. I have yet to put my laundry away and hopefully will get to that tomorrow.
I have been trying to make larger dinners on the weekends so I can have leftovers to eat throughout the week as I am often too busy to cook(even now when I am home all day). Tonight I made white bean soup and now have at least 3 meals for this week.
After dinner, I went to watch a movie for my Dance through Film class but found out, in true college fashion, I had actually put off much more than just the movie. I did all the readings and discussion posts so that I am able to just watch the movie tomorrow morning first thing. It is a 2-hour movie and I don’t think I could stay up through the whole thing since it is already 8:15 P.M. This class is an online class so I was prepared for it to be instructed in this manner but now adjusting to doing all my work and schooling in a remote fashion it has made me push this one to the very back of the to-do list as I try to navigate my other 18 credits.
Sunday
Today is definitely the hardest day I have spent in quarantine. Easter is hands down one of my favorite holidays and not being able to be around family and go to church with everyone was definitely very hard. Luckily I have wonderful friends and family who made sure to spoil me even if we can’t be physically close. It has definitely been a lazy day today. I finish watching the movie for class and then I made some homemade pizza for lunch to make sure I have leftovers to eat throughout the week. A family friend made me an Easter dinner to-go which is just what I needed. I ended the day by watching an online church service and watching some TV before going to bed.
Monday
Last night I didn’t sleep well so I slept in till almost 9:30 A.M. I have laid in bed all day and didn’t go to class because I am having some pain associated with underlying health issues. While it sucks to be in pain spending a day just laying in bed binge-watching Real Housewives of New York is really what I wish I could do most days in quarantine. I was planning on cooking tonight but have decided instead that being lazy is the best option for me currently.
I still haven’t put away my laundry from Saturday and am trying to learn to be better about cleaning my apartment in small amounts throughout the week rather than doing everything on one day. I was really hoping that maybe things would calm down with everything going on but it seems to only be getting busier. Documenting this week has just shown me how much I do in a typical day. It is nice to take a Monday off and not do anything.
