Jacob Palmer shares his #COVIDMemory which he titles, “A WIU Graduating Senior During the COVID-19 Pandemic.” The memory recounts how his time at Western Illinois University living in Caroline Grote Hall was dramatically changed due to the stay at home order issued in March of 2020.
By Jacob Palmer
May 8, 2020
The Covid-19 pandemic affected my final semester at Western Illinois University. Due to the virus and stay-at-home order, my classes and internship in Macomb were forced to move to an online format. This definitely made the semester unusual, but I was able to adapt fairly well. Students like me, who moved home for Spring Break, had not been back to our dorms since the week of March 9th. We remained home until we received an email in May to come clean out our dorm rooms.
This had a bigger impact on me than I expected. I had hoped to return to my room in Grote Hall for at least a week or two before the semester ended, but that wasn’t allowed. It was at this point that I realized I was done at Western. Graduating under normal circumstances can bring on a wide range of emotions, but this was more. Leaving the room I had called home for almost two years, made me realize how many things I had hoped to do in my final semester that just didn’t happen. There were people in my classes and my dorm I wish I had gotten to know better. There were people from home that I had hoped would visit me on campus this Spring. Not to mention my graduation, for now anyway, has only been a virtual ceremony, our names scrolling across a screen.
So, as I said goodbye to Room 203A in Grote, an awesome room in an amazing dorm, I was reminded of the great memories I have of my time spent there but also the opportunities I missed as a result of COVID-19. It’s another reminder to seize the day, don’t put things off until tomorrow, and pounce on every opportunity when it comes your way.