Students scramble to adjust to quarantine and remote learning in just one day

Summit photo

Senior Ben Moskey shops for essentials at Target after hearing news of the campus-wide quarantine.

Summit photo

The line at Target stretched to the back of the store with Stonehill students before the lockdown Thursday night.

By Anastasia Pumphrey

Six hours. That is how much time Stonehill students had between being told that classes would be remote, that they would be quarantined in their rooms for ten days, and the gates of campus would close.

Some called their parents, some ran to their cars for an emergency Target run, and others headed home for a week and a half. Students said they got a reality check in those six hours as they scrambled before hunkering down in their dorms.

Easton’s Target parking lot was flooded with Stonehill students. The line reached to the back of the store as anxious twenty-somethings clutched their necessities ready for checkout.

This lockdown, put into effect tonight (Thursday) at 6 p.m. and projected to last until in-person classes resume on February 15, came as a shock to some after an email was sent to the Stonehill community earlier today, but for others, it was expected.

“I understand why we have to do it, but it’s just very overwhelming,” Senior Bianca DiVitto said. She said that she was heading home tonight back to Whitinsville, Massachusetts, but before that she and her suitemate Kirsten Monteforte headed to Target to get some supplies.

“I was walking to get my COVID test and I saw the email,” DiVitto said. “All the kids on campus I walked by I could hear talking to their parents, and they’re like ‘Oh my God I don’t know what I’m going to do.’”

DiVitto said that she and Monteforte are residents of New Hall and that after the mandatory area-wide meeting last night, she thought the lockdown was needed.

“I think it was good that they went over policies [last night] but I feel like there needs to be stricter rules set and if people violate things there needs to be stricter discipline that happens to them,” DiVitto said. “I feel like when people get in trouble once it doesn’t really matter because it’s almost like a warning, but now that stricter rules are put in place I feel like people will start taking it more seriously.”

Senior Ben Moskey said that he agreed and that people need this lockdown to understand the severity of the COVID-19 situation.

“It’s kind of what has to be done,” Moskey said. “If everyone is not going to follow the rules and Stonehill gets loose with the repercussions, it’s going to be tough for everyone else to follow them.”

He said that although he is frustrated with the strictness of the rules, he is willing to follow the rules to help better the community.

“It’s not perfect, and that’s the hard part—to find a solution, but what they’re doing is all they can do to keep us on campus,” Moskey said.

Senior Dana Romagna said that she had trouble coping with the news mental-health wise.

“I’m frustrated and have no idea at the moment. I’m trying to go home because it’ll be better for my mental health, but I just don’t know,” Romagna said.

Junior Nick Fantasia said he agreed about everyone needing this time to be held responsible for causing a spike due to community violations.

“People need to be held accountable for not following the guidelines, and if the rest of us have to put up with this nonsense for ten days I feel like that’s okay,” Fantasia said.

Fantasia said that he lives with seniors in the junior courts and that although he is part of the class of 2022, he feels for those spending their last semester like this.

“I feel bad and I feel like they shouldn’t have to have this be their last semester. They should be able to have fun, but right now everyone’s so busy worrying about getting sick that we can’t do what we want to do,” Fantasia said.

Ariana Rodrigues, a senior biochemistry major, said that the swift decision to quarantine and go remote was particularly hard for seniors in the sciences.

“I think it came at a very overwhelming time,” Rodrigues said. “A lot of seniors, especially chemistry majors in the science program, have theses coming up. We’re getting prepared for them and doing research, so all of a sudden having a change of plans just back-tracks us a little bit and kind of puts us in a different position than what we were prepared for.”

She said that she wishes the decision was made on a larger time-table but understands the need for quick action given this week’s outbreak.

“I think it was definitely necessary, I just think a little more of a warning was needed to go fully remote,” Rodrigues said. “A lot of stuff has already been taken away from us so this is just scarier now.”

Ben Moskey also said that as a senior, he was finding the news hard in particular. “I was fine with not partying and such, but at this point, it’s tough to even enjoy what we have right now, especially with this quarantine. Just hopefully, people will be a little more responsible this time around,” Moskey said.

Freshmen who are new to campus also said they were struggling with the news.

“For me, I was a remote student last semester, so it kind of sucks that I’ve been here for not even two weeks and I feel like I’m going back to where I was,” Freshman Abigail Larsson said. The track and field athlete was at Target with some friends, Julio Del Valle and Joe Cunningham, gathering supplies to last the ten days.

“It’s going to be very difficult to adjust to for a bit,” Del Valle said.

Cunningham said he was more surprised than upset by the news, his first experience with college being during a global pandemic.

“I think it’s a good idea overall, it’s just surprising to me being so sudden, but I think it’ll be beneficial,” Cunningham said.

Sophomore Alex Bergstrand said that he was not surprised either.

“Honestly, it’s at a point where I don’t really complain anymore just because I expect it,” he said.

Still, Bianca DiVitto and Kerri Goldfuss said that they felt like their senior year was suffering due to COVID-19.

“The whole semester is sad, and now it’s just bigger sad,” Goldfuss said. “It’s the last one and it’s weird. Usually, the seniors are having the big events and now it just feels less personal.”

“It honestly doesn’t even feel real anymore,” DiVitto said. “It feels like a complete dream. Over the summer they were like ‘it’s going to end in the summer’ and now we’re in February. I’m just hoping for a graduation at this point, that’s all I want.”

Summit reporter Abagail Chartier contributed to this story.