7 Things You Notice About Your College Town After 5 months In Quarantine
Start writing a post
Student Life

7 Things You Notice About Your College Town After 5 months In Quarantine

In the months following the University of Missouri's switch to online classes and subsequent summer break, I have come to appreciate a few things more about my community that I had never noticed until the COVID-19 lockdown.

22
7 Things You Notice About Your College Town After 5 months In Quarantine

When spring semester classes moved to online, I faced the choice of packing up and moving back home, 7 hours away, or staying in my college town, Columbia, Missouri for the unforeseeable future. I chose to stay, justifying my decision by pointing to my expensive apartment lease and few friends that were also staying. I also (naively) believed that my part-time campus job might allow its student employees to come back within a few weeks. This hope of a few weeks turned out to be 5 long months. In these past months, I have had a lot of time to appreciate and make new discoveries about the community I have come to call home.

You don't notice how much of the town's population is made up of college students until they're gone. 

Columbia, like a lot of other college towns, seems to rotate around its college like it is the sun. According to data collected by the US Census, the ages 20-25 by far make up the majority of the population and during COVID-19, students have gradually returned to their hometowns. Downtown Columbia, once overrun with any number of college students bar-hopping or walking dogs, has become quiet. Restaurants, coffee shops, and liquor stores that could at any time be found full of young people, now have only a few, local patrons.

Columbia is home to a lot of beautiful sunsets in the summertime. 

While I know sunsets don't change depending on if college is in session or people are in town, it really seems like there have been more and more photo-worthy sunsets since quarantine began. Maybe it's because when college is in session, it's much more common that I am out with friends, (sometimes) studying in the library, or getting ready for some party. It's a rare afternoon that I would take the time to pause, go outside, and watch the sunset like I have been doing much more often as of late.

What makes being in college so special is not your campus, or classes, or dorm; it's your friends. 

Living in you college town after most of your friends have headed back home is really different. The number of people you can call to grab take-out with or go on a hike with is drastically smaller. FaceTime and Zoom calls become the new 'hang-out.' It's not nearly the same, but it is the new normal.

It's no longer normal to wear sweats/pajamas walking around campus.

When the only people walking on campus are alumni who never left town or professors who have stayed to continue their research alone, it feels pretty weird to wear sweats on campus the morning after a late-night zoom happy hour. It's just not the same when you're the only one hungover and looking like you just rolled out of bed.

The most unsettling place to walk through and see it empty is Greek town.

During the school year, Greek town is the one place you can walk through at any time of day or night and see swarms of fraternity brothers or sorority sisters hanging out, walking around, and partying. Seeing the lines of pristine houses desolate and quiet is unsettling in a way that you never would have expected it to be.

All those college traditions you love during the year- midnight ice cream runs, lazy brunches, and tailgate mimosas have lost their glamor when the town is empty. 

As the college students left, the college culture seems to have left with it. It's not as easy to justify eating ice-cream in the middle of the night or drinking before noon when you're the only one doing it!

You actually might start to miss your college lectures. 

During the year, you wouldn't be caught dead expressing that you missed going to class. But after months in quarantine, you might start to crave the normalcy that lectures brought you. You could always count on all your peers bringing their coffees to class, wearing sweats to sit in the back of the lecture hall (or the try-hards in business casual sitting up front). Dozing off during you Monday morning lecture has never looked so appealing.

Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
Adulting

Unlocking Lake People's Secrets: 15 Must-Knows!

There's no other place you'd rather be in the summer.

933967
Group of joyful friends sitting in a boat
Haley Harvey

The people that spend their summers at the lake are a unique group of people.

Whether you grew up going to the lake, have only recently started going, or have only been once or twice, you know it takes a certain kind of person to be a lake person. To the long-time lake people, the lake holds a special place in your heart, no matter how dirty the water may look.

Keep Reading...Show less
Student Life

Top 10 Reasons My School Rocks!

Why I Chose a Small School Over a Big University.

110381
man in black long sleeve shirt and black pants walking on white concrete pathway

I was asked so many times why I wanted to go to a small school when a big university is so much better. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure a big university is great but I absolutely love going to a small school. I know that I miss out on big sporting events and having people actually know where it is. I can't even count how many times I've been asked where it is and I know they won't know so I just say "somewhere in the middle of Wisconsin." But, I get to know most people at my school and I know my professors very well. Not to mention, being able to walk to the other side of campus in 5 minutes at a casual walking pace. I am so happy I made the decision to go to school where I did. I love my school and these are just a few reasons why.

Keep Reading...Show less
Lots of people sat on the cinema wearing 3D glasses
Pinterest

Ever wonder what your friend meant when they started babbling about you taking their stapler? Or how whenever you ask your friend for a favor they respond with "As You Wish?" Are you looking for new and creative ways to insult your friends?

Well, look no further. Here is a list of 70 of the most quotable movies of all time. Here you will find answers to your questions along with a multitude of other things such as; new insults for your friends, interesting characters, fantastic story lines, and of course quotes to log into your mind for future use.

Keep Reading...Show less
New Year Resolutions

It's 2024! You drank champagne, you wore funny glasses, and you watched the ball drop as you sang the night away with your best friends and family. What comes next you may ask? Sadly you will have to return to the real world full of work and school and paying bills. "Ah! But I have my New Year's Resolutions!"- you may say. But most of them are 100% complete cliches that you won't hold on to. Here is a list of those things you hear all around the world.

Keep Reading...Show less
Lifestyle

The Ultimate Birthday: Unveiling the Perfect Day to Celebrate!

Let's be real, the day your birthday falls on could really make or break it.

59080
​different color birthday candles on a cake
Blacksburg Children's Museum

You heard it here first: birthdays in college are some of the best days of your four years. For one day annually, you get to forget about your identity as a stressed, broke, and overworked student, and take the time to celebrate. You can throw your responsibilities for a day, use your one skip in that class you hate, receive kind cards and gifts from loved ones and just enjoy yourself.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments