Hi! My name is Aileen Kurts and I would say with everything going on right now, life is pretty crazy. I just finished my sophomore year, majoring in English Pre-Med and many students probably know me as their favorite Grind barista🤣. I’m also a biology TA, a senator, and President Pro-Tempore of PUC’s student senate. Doing all that remotely has certainly been interesting. 

My days at home were a bit more relaxed than when I’m on campus, but somehow I’ve felt even more tired here. I think it’s because I miss all the people and energy I get from seeing my friends. Now I spend my time looking at a screen, whether it’s in class, watching TV, Facetiming friends, and most importantly studying. It got pretty tiresome so I started some new hobbies at home. I’ve gotten really into DIY projects. I’ve painted my room, put up shelves over my desk, and painted my bathroom. I’ve been working on so many more plans I hope to accomplish while at home for the summer. 

I also started cooking a lot. My mom is a nurse who is self-isolating in her room so I cook so she doesn’t have to come out. It’s not a lot of fun not getting to hang out with my mom, but sometimes I get to sit outside her door. We’ll talk, make jokes and it reminds me that being home during the pandemic isn’t so bad. I haven’t lived at home for this long since I was 15 so it has definitely been an adjusting period for me. One of the best things about living at home though is getting to see my dogs every day.

My school days were often a little crazy as I had five classes each day with labs, meetings, and a ton of homework. I decided to work more on self-care while I have the time to focus a bit more on myself. This means some days I take a long nap, a nice bath, or just read a book. If you’re interested, here’s how my days as a remote learner at PUC went. 

7:45 a.m. – On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays I had all of my classes. This includes 8 a.m. Organic Chemistry (no science class should be this early). I have a dream of waking up at 7 a.m. but this is still just a dream so I would wake up 15 minutes before my class starts, drink a cup of water, and open my computer to start my day.  

8:00 a.m. – OChem with Professor Hilario. Surprisingly I never slept through this one!  

9:00 a.m. – Physics with Professor Robertson. 

10:00 a.m. – Survey of Lit with Professor Gill. Being an English major while studying pre-med means I get to have the best of both worlds. I get to study what I love and still go into the career I want. It means I have some pretty hard classes but it’s all worth it when I’m studying things I love.  

11:00 a.m. – Christian Beliefs with Professor Kim.

Noon – At this time I would be overcome with exhaustion from classes. I would either take a nap or cook. I do all the shopping to limit exposure to my parents so I get to buy all the things I need to make new and healthy meals.

 2:00-5:00 p.m. – I had two labs: physics and O-chem. I would spend a few hours working on my online labs. It’s hard having to do hands-on learning on the computer, but our lab instructors do the best they can by sending us videos of the lab.  

5:00 p.m. – I would get some dinner, take a break and watch Full House and let my brain rest. I also used that time to get to talk to my boyfriend, Samuel. We’ve found some creative ways to overcome long distances. We use Microsoft Teams to watch TV together and play games. We even work out together over FaceTime.

7:00 p.m. – Now is when I would do homework or take a meeting. Honestly, anything could happen. I tried to talk to my friends and deal with anything that needed to get done.

Midnight – If I’m lucky, I would be in bed. (Unlike right now because I am writing this at 12:30 a.m.). Sometimes I get my best work done at midnight or I get all my work done and go to bed early. Life during the pandemic is pretty complicated but all we can do is take it one day at a time.