Photo by Ali Meizels ‘23
By Ansley Keane ’23
Staff Writer
Ten months after Mount Holyoke’s campus was forced closed due to COVID-19, many students have been able to return to the College.
Though a small number of students lived on campus during the fall of 2020, nearly 800 students are now physically at Mount Holyoke. For some new students, this is the first time they have ever seen the campus in person. For others, it is their final semester.
Although many students are back on campus, this semester looks radically different from previous ones. Before moving in, students lined up 6 feet apart inside Carr Laboratory to take COVID-19 tests, a process that each residential student will complete twice a week going forward. Unlike a typical year, when families and friends could help students move into their rooms, this year parents watched from outside as their children carried suitcases, mini-fridges and first-year plants into their residence halls by themselves.
The Dining Commons is operating on a takeout-only system, and during the campus quarantine, students are only able to spend time in their rooms or outdoors. Around mealtimes, students can be seen eating outside despite the cold winter weather.
Even the downsides to attending college in a pandemic seem unable to take away from the joy of being able to return to Mount Holyoke or arrive on campus for the first time.
“Stepping back on campus was really exciting. … It was really uplifting to see it all,” Rebecca Kilroy ’23 said. “A part of me wasn’t even entirely sure that it would actually happen,” Kilroy added.
For first-year students, such as Rameen Farrukh ’24, being able to come to campus prompted many emotions. Farrukh, whose home country is Pakistan, had her first experience traveling internationally to Mount Holyoke. “This was my first one-on-one experience with the College, with America. … It was overwhelming. I had so many emotions,” Farrukh said. Farrukh was accepted to Mount Holyoke Early Decision in late 2019 and had been waiting to come to the College for over a year. She expressed her feeling of disbelief at finally being able to set foot on campus.
Maahi Jaiswal ’24 also saw the campus for the first time when she moved in this January. Jaiswal is the senator for the class of 2024 and has lived in Portugal, Cuba, India, South Africa and New York City. “I don’t think the pictures do it justice,” Jaiswal said about the campus. Jaiswal added that “seeing all the buildings in person, seeing all the facilities, all the halls — it was really surreal.”
Although Madelynn Hardtke ’24 had briefly visited Mount Holyoke before, move-in day was her first experience going into buildings and spending time on the campus. “It felt almost like a dream,” Hardtke said. “It felt like such a weird situation to be going on my college campus for the first time [after having been a student for a semester already],” Hardtke added.
Kilroy and Farrukh reflected on the unique difficulties of the move-in process.
Kilroy described her move-in experience as “insane” and “hectic.” Kilroy reflected, “The two-hour time window was very much on my mind; I was continually sprinting from the time I finished my testing. In the end, I finished 30 minutes early.”
“It was kind of getting dark [and] I didn’t know the [way] around,” Farrukh explained about her move-in experience. Hardtke, who flew from California to Mount Holyoke, had arrived a week early. She noted that move-in “wasn’t as crazy; it felt a little bit weird being one of the first people on campus.”
The campus is in quarantine until Feb. 1, making it relatively quiet for students.
“My first few days on campus was when there was no one around. It was so strange just walking around the empty campus, but I really loved it. I loved going on walks. It made me feel a little bit wistful about not having had a big fall orientation, but it was pretty exciting to be on campus,” Hardtke said.
For Farrukh, the beginning of time on campus showed her the welcoming nature of the campus community. Farrukh explained that she has dietary restrictions and that Dining Services accommodated her during the initial period in which students could not get food from the Dining Commons. “They have your back, [and] you’re not alone even if you’re an international student. They made me feel [at] home in the first few days,” Farrukh said.
Jaiswal has spent her first few days on campus adjusting to campus living. “I had to get used to the timing because the food [is served] earlier than when I [usually] eat. I’ve had to shift my body clock,” Jaiswal said. “[Living on my own] has been nice because I’m learning how to do things by myself,” Jaiswal added.
Kilroy enjoyed her first few days on campus. She said it “was weirdly kind of nice because I had so much I had to do that I didn’t really miss the ability to leave my room. The days that I’ve had classes have been busy and pretty full, [and] the days I don’t have classes have had a lot of empty time,” Kilroy continued.
With a campus once again filled with students, Mount Holyoke looks ahead to another distinct pandemic semester.