BY BENJAMIN BLAZEVIC / VN Staff Writer
Before Covid-19 began to alter life in the U.S in March, Detroit Mercy senior Hannah Knisely was living in a condo with her brother and his girlfriend while looking for her own place with her boyfriend.
“Since March, I’ve semi-moved back into my mom’s house while still having a lot of my clothes, furniture and possessions at my brother’s house,” said Knisely.
She is like many Detroit Mercy students who are living at home with parents after having seen their plans scrapped by the pandemic.
Their experiences are varied.
While Knisely did not plan to be with her mom, she said the experience has been better than expected.
“As much as I didn’t want to be living at my mom’s, it has been a fun surprise being here and enjoying time around my family that I don’t normally get to have with my busy schedule and living away from them,” she said.
Senior Nurzahan Rahman has been helping her parents with different tasks since the start of the pandemic.
“It was rough in the beginning,” she said. “I would have my parents ask me to do tasks, translate and calling offices for them. Although all of those errands have calmed down and my parents are slowly becoming more understanding that I still have classes and work, it takes immigrant parents a little longer to understand.”
Prior to Covid-19, Rahman would finish her assignments and readings at the university before heading home to assist her parents.
Now, she is learning how to deal with assignments while at home.
Even with these changes, Rahman said she is also enjoying time with her family.
“With everything going on, let alone tomorrow, we don’t even know what’s going to happen the next second,” she said. “Spending time with family and siblings, no matter how crazy they’ll drive you, I am trying to cherish these moments before we all get busy with life again, hopefully.”
Senior Joseph Jessop has been enjoying his home countryside during the pandemic.
“It is much more relaxing and familiar. I don’t have to do a ton of work like washing clothes and cleaning the house and dishwasher,” he said.
Jessop said that while online courses have not been as good as in-person lectures, nothing new has really happened in his home environment.
“When living at home you occasionally have to deal with the nagging parents but that is nothing new and just means they want to be a part of your life,” said Jessop. “The biggest con I can think of is at night when I am playing video games. I have to be quiet since everyone else is sleeping. If I were living by myself, I could be as loud as I want to be.”
Some students, like senior Natalie Wilson, are having difficultly connecting to their friends without face-to-face interactions.
“I’m especially missing the in-person interaction with people in my major, architecture,” said Wilson.
She said architecture students typically have their own designated studio class and room that students can enter between classes.
“The studios are more than just classrooms,” said Wilson. “They’re hangouts, study spaces, design spaces and so much more.”
The studios helped build comradery among architecture students.
Due to the virus, architecture students have to find a way to handle their courses without interactions within their studios, she said.
Despite these challenges, Wilson said there are some pros to living at home.
“I have my own room, I get homemade meals and I don’t have to move stuff back and forth from the dorms,” she said.
