When the COVID-19 pandemic hit Harvard, the ensuing student freakout was both surprising and counterintuitive. On Tuesday, March 10, I was supposed to wake up at 8:45 a.m. for my 10 a.m. class. I was apprehensive about waking up so early after a weekend of nonstop rehearsals and meetings for every single extracurricular I have, culminating in a 3 a.m. bedtime the night before. When my alarm rang and I went to turn my phone off though, I saw that I had 33 unread text messages. And I received an email from the dean with the subject line: “An Important Message from Harvard College.” I didn’t read the whole email. I really only read the bolded phrasing: “Harvard College students will be required to move out of their houses and first-year dorms as soon as possible and no later than Sunday, March 15, at 5:00 p.m.” |