Amid our daily routines and lives, a pandemic still looms. Though masks have become “en vogue,” protective shields normal, “Zoom” a household word and six-foot distance an everyday occurrence, it’s a whole different experience to actually have to quarantine away from others because of exposure to COVID-19. Student body president Demarion Johnson experienced just that.
After being exposed to a COVID-positive friend over lunch, Johnson was quickly quarantined. Due to other various exposures, six of the seven Executive Cabinet members were also quarantined around the same time.
“I had lunch with a friend and they tested positive,” said Johnson, “and because of that lunch, I was sent into quarantine for ten days.”
Throughout those ten days, Johnson decided to fill his day with activities that he normally wouldn’t have time for.
“It was a very interesting experience, but this semester, I live in the apartments, so I had multiple rooms I could go into and I could make my own food,” said Johnson. “I like people, but I was learning that having time away from people is also good. During my time, I played my Wii, and I have this video camera that I pretend to be a vlogger with. So I recorded different videos just talking about my day with my camera, and I was able to tidy my room up. Especially as a senior, it’s a great time to get away from the hustle and bustle to fix your resume, look at jobs and apartments and other things for after college.”
Johnson wasn’t just planning for the future, though. He also noted that he chose to take some time to have a little fun.
“I watched a lot of movies and I rediscovered cable TV, so that was a lot of fun!” said Johnson.
Everyone knows that academics at Asbury don’t stop over quarantine. For Johnson, the classroom experience felt a little different.
“It was weird. One of my classes is completely on Zoom, but the rest I had to transition over to Zoom,” said Johnson. “It’s weird because I’m in the class, but I’m not in the class because in order for me to participate in discussion, I have to interrupt the professor versus being in the classroom where the discussion happens naturally. I just mostly took notes and didn’t participate in the group discussion.”
As for socialization, Johnson found plenty of ways to still interact with his roommates and friends.
“With my roommate, we wore masks and were able to associate throughout the apartment. But for everyone else, we just had a FaceTime call that ran throughout the majority of the day to just check in with each other,” said Johnson, “and we continued to text and just have that personal connection with people. Towards the end of quarantine, there were a few things I needed so I’d just talk to people from my window, and they’d drop bags of things off and I’d just pull it up through the window.”
Life doesn’t come completely to a halt as student body president, however. With Johnson and all but one of the Executive Cabinet members quarantined, some steps had to be taken to keep everything running smoothly.
“The person that would naturally default as the fill-in student body president was quarantined, and then there were a couple vice presidents who were also quarantined,” said Johnson, “so we had one vice president who was not quarantined. I think he facilitated some of the in-person office tasks, but for the majority of it, all ASC functions were postponed and put at a halt during the period.”
As of Monday, Jan. 25, Johnson is happily out of quarantine and back to his daily duties, but he’s got some advice for those facing quarantine.
“First, take advantage of the cafeteria meals that they bring to you — it’s so nice,” said Johnson. “But above that, use this time for reflection for yourself. We don’t get time to pause often during the semester, so when you’re afforded ten days, you summon that to focus on your spiritual life, focus on where you want to be in life and how your life is leading you to that point, or how it’s not. Look at ways to change and regroup before you enter back into public. Use that time for personal reflection. Sit with your thoughts and journal.”
