A Day in the Life of Someone in Hotel Quarantine

By: Roxane Park, Ashley Jiang, Harrison McGovern, Catherine Wu

Rather than facing the narrow and dim rooms of the Quarantine Unit this year, Exonians identified as close contacts were whisked off-campus to the Springhill Suites Hotel. Students spent their five-day quarantine period under faculty supervision in rooms with plush queen-sized beds and abstract artwork.

Prep Davido Zhang described a typical day’s schedule while living at the hotel during quarantine: “I would wake up slightly later, because basically there’s not much to do before I go on to an online class. Then after a day of slightly more tedious online classes, I would just spend some of the time practicing cello, and working on extracurriculars. I would also have a little bit more free time just to relax.” Zhang said.

For most students their daily lives did not differ much at the hotel compared to living at the Academy.  “I would wake up, go to class on Zoom, watch Spider-Man on Netflix, do homework, and eat dinner with my friend who was also in quarantine,” Upper Jadyn Mitchell said. “My daily routine didn’t really change, except I didn’t leave my room much because we weren’t allowed to. It was nice to have my own shower and bathroom though.” 

“My daily routines were much more laid-back and unfortunately tended to take more time [than on campus]. I think a large reason behind this was the sudden influx of time I experienced. Back on campus, if I woke up at 7:30 a.m. it was a rush to get to class on time, while in quarantine I had a good half hour to brush my teeth, shower, and then watch YouTube videos. It was quite a strange feeling to be honest, not that one I’m used to at an academically rigorous school like Exeter,” prep Steven Chen said.

Lower Neil Varwandkar agreed saying,  “I didn't have any sports, so I was inside for the whole day which gave me a lot of time to do my homework for not only the next day, but also for the following days.” 

Some difficulties with remote learning arose for students attending Zoom classes. “Most of my classes offered Zoom to those who were unable to attend in person. Although oftentimes I wouldn’t really be able to understand what was happening, it was definitely better than nothing. Homework was sometimes difficult due to not really understanding what was going on in class, but most of the time I’d be able to figure it out either on my own or [by] asking a friend to go over what was covered in class,” Chen added. 

“I was a little stressed about how I was to participate and adequately learn while on Zoom, as there wasn't a hybrid model available so most classes were quite hard to join, especially English,” Varwandkar continued.

For students at the hotel, mental health was also a large concern. “My happiness was definitely less as I wasn't able to see my friends in the dorm or outside of the dorm,” Varwandkar said. 

Mitchell similarly mentioned that “part of [the hotel stay] was nice, but the other part of me was about to lose my mind as I was severely lacking in just talking to people and going outside.”

“As a social person, going days without social interaction really affected my mental and emotional health. I remember the morning when I woke up right after the day I checked into the hotel, I was hit with this wave of isolation. Knowing that I would be stuck in this situation for the next five or six days and that I had no control over it really dampened my mood,” Chen said.

Students shared how they were able to cope during their time at the hotel. “I used social media to connect with people. Sometimes I would go on some calls when I just felt like calling my friends, because I'm a somewhat talkative person. It was great that I had my cello with me and it really filled my time, otherwise it would’ve been worse,” Zhang said.

“I had more free time, but less options to spend it, so it mainly turned into more homework time,” Varwandkar said. “I also watched a lot of Youtube and TV, watching series such as Suits, Taskmaster and movies like No Time to Die and Infinity War.”

Quarantine supervisor Lori Novell shared the goals of the faculty team at the hotel: “My focus was to ensure [that] the students followed the guidelines set for them as someone who was identified as a close contact. Our goal was to ensure the students were emotionally okay as well as making sure they were eating,” Novell stated.

Novell also explained the efforts the team made to improve students’ stay at the hotel. “[Another supervisor] Paul Gravel created a group chat with all of the students who were at the hotel to let them know when lunch and dinner were served. They also received texts several times a day letting them know specific times we would take students outside to get fresh air,” Novell said. 

“On the weekends, we also helped to serve lunches and dinners alongside the catering team headed by Cindy Jerge. We had a ‘staff room’ where a supervisor made themselves available to answer students' questions, and get them things they needed upon request,” Novell continued.

Some students discussed the food offered at the hotel during their quarantine. To Mitchell “the food was similar to the food we would get on campus. We would go downstairs to the lobby for lunch and dinner and get food from this conference room. For breakfast we could go to the hotel breakfast buffet. In general, the food was okay. It was good some days, weird on others.”

“They also kept snacks outside our rooms as well as getting treats on certain days like ice cream and a birthday cake,” Varwandkar added.

Novell reflected on her overall experience at the hotel. “I appreciate being at the hotel, because the hotel has great staff who are very accommodating and met any need we had.  They made sure there was plenty of food for the daily continental breakfast which the students enjoyed.”

Many students also agreed that their quarantine experience was mostly positive. “Being quarantined away from friends wasn’t great, and classes on Zoom weren't as fun as in-person ones, but the room was definitely a huge plus, and the private bathroom was certainly great. The staff were also very nice and understanding,” Varwandkar said.

“I will say that living at the hotel relieved some of my stress about certain parts of my life, most notably academic pressures such as getting homework done on time and smaller things like getting breakfast every day,” Chen concluded.