Coping with Quarantine

After the first month or so of working from home, we asked our faculty and staff about some of the ways they’ve been keeping themselves occupied, something they’ve learned, or something they’ve been thinking about.  What has brightened their day, or has helped them stay connected to their family or community?  A few of our faculty and staff share how they’re coping with quarantine.

 

Jaehee Yi, associate professor (with Gaben Cetrola Sanchez, assistant professor/lecturer):

Jaehee's first-time barber experience:

1. The fearless first touch that opened a huge clearing,
2. The rushed attempt to fix it, still a pretty clear line in the back,
3. But I love the handsome smile with the “perfect” corona haircut, with a new determination that I will just stick to research.

 

Joanne Yaffe, professor:

Three tips:

1. Get dressed every day.  Even from the waist down.
2. Take some time out from everything else to practice gratitude.  Think about ONE thing you have to be grateful for.  For example, I am grateful that I still have a job, I am grateful that there’s such a thing as the Internet, and I am grateful that my house is still standing.  Do this once a day!
3. Reach out to your friends and have a party over the Internet.  I am serious.

 

Michael Plourde, web designer:

• Binging: Hell on Wheels, Penny Dreadful, War of the Worlds, and Peaky Blinders.
• Movies: Too many to list, but I’m re-watching a lot of the super hero-based stuff.
• Audio books: Help me wind down at night, though, I won’t name the ones so far because they have been disappointing.
• Legos: They are puzzles in their own right and I enjoy being able put them together. I follow the instructions, occasionally changing to what makes sense, but it takes my mind off the strange times we are in.

 

Elizabeth Perez, director of Academic Advising:

One thing my family has oddly enjoyed during these frightening times is the challenge of finding toilet paper.  At first it was frustrating (and weird) that we could not find paper products at any of our local stores or online.  But then it became a fun challenge.  We finally found a “lead on TP”—a friend’s son who works at a grocery store in a neighboring county, which helped.  And yesterday when my spouse went out to buy some items for dinner, he surprised everyone with a small package of the prized stuff, and came into the house looking rather victorious.  Forget bringing home the bacon.  Bringing home the toilet paper is the thing now!

When my anxiety levels are too high, I head out to my front porch and watch the birds.  House finches build nests in my hanging flower baskets every year, and my family and I get a kick out of April, which is when they return.  We have one nest right now, and surely more to come as the season progresses.

 

Jennifer Nozawa, marketing and communications manager:

I’m learning how to do hand lettering, “the art of drawing letters.”  I’m a fan of nice stationary and handwritten notes, so I love the idea of adding this little artistic element to make those pieces extra-special.

I also got cursive penmanship books for my oldest nieces and nephew to work on over the summer.

 

Alysse Loomis, assistant professor:

Liliana was born at the University hospital and we continue to feel incredibly grateful to be connected to the U.  We had fantastic healthcare staff during our time at the hospital who made us feel so supported during what could have been a scary time with all of the COVID changes.  We can now laugh at the memory of me being pushed in a wheelchair, mid-contraction, at 1 a.m. through the COVID screening tent outside of the hospital.  (Apparently screaming “NO FEVER! NO TRAVEL!” is quite effective at moving you through screening.)  Nothing like a dramatic entrance!  She is a Utah fan already.

 

Richie Landward, assistant professor/lecturer:

How to cope with full-time work and a 4-year-old:

• Building forts
• Helping the fire fighters
• Space camp
• Pedal bike training
• Hot wheels race course

 

Lisa Himonas, assistant dean for development:

I teased my husband for days about his purchase of a 50-lb bag of Costco onions—even giving away three of the orbs at a staff meeting in March.  Then the quarantine came and the great onion shortage of 2020 hit—even Naomi Watts was onion-less!  Turns out my sweetheart was a visionary.  We carried our precious onion cargo to Minnesota and are working through our onion stash day by day.  The way we’re getting through everything these days!

 

 

David Derezotes:

The idea comes from Bayo Akomolafee, who is a visiting professor at Middleburg College, and who was born in Western Nigeria in 1983.  He has written and spoken about global transformation and is a highly sought-after speaker.  One of Bayo’s slogans is, “The times are urgent: We must slow down.”  I think this slogan applies to us today during this quarantine most of us are in.  The normal reaction we humans have in a crises is to speed up, try to quickly get out of our suffering, and return to our habitual life style.  When we speed up, our first response tends to be a fear-based response, coming out of fear and out of ego, and usually does not have good outcomes.  If we slow down, we may not return to our habitual and sometimes unhealthy life patterns, but instead consider healthier alternatives.

 

Stephanie Dawson Pack, public relations/marketing assistant:

I’ve enjoyed virtual knit nights with friends and finished two knit tops for myself (both started before quarantine).  Oh, and I crossed off a bucket list item by buzzing my hair!

 

Joanna Bettmann Schaefer, associate dean for academic affairs:

I learned from a CSW staff person that Cards Against Humanity had a free family-friendly version online.  We downloaded it and my kids spent a few hours cutting up the cards so we could play.  Families can remove any cards they don’t like or have objections to.  The rules are quite simple in this game, but my kids (ages 6 and 7) love this and think it is so much fun!  I think they love how sometimes funny and inappropriate things are said.  And the game made us all giggle.  We ended up playing it on Facetime with my husband’s sister, her husband, and their two teenagers in California.  We had so much fun!

 

 

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