Community Prepares for Return

By: Anna Kim, Henry Liu, Catherine Wu

With campus planning to open in two weeks, students and faculty are now preparing to return in light of Principal William Rawson’s schoolwide Jan. 12 email announcing return protocols.

According to the current plan, boarders may elect to return to campus on Feb. 11-13, March 13 or March 20. All returning boarding students will be required to complete a week-long quarantine from home and will have to take a COVID-19 test prior to and upon arrival. Once on campus, students are scheduled for a week-long quarantine.

Some faculty members cited concerns about student safety, especially with the high density of students returning. “With all students returning at once and in such a short timeframe, it will be crucial for students to follow the mask, distance, capacity, etc. rules,” Mathematics Instructor and Wheelwright dorm head Brandon Hew said. 

“I was not involved in this planning [for the 3-day student return] but am trusting that those who were believe this spacing gives the health center adequate time to process the COVID tests which will be done before students enter the dorms,” Biology Instructor Anne Rankin said.

Health Instructor and McConnell dorm head Michelle Soucy is “optimistic” and looking forward to students’ return to campus. “Being on campus was more beneficial to our students[’] mental health than remaining at home, in my opinion,” Soucy said. “I am hopeful [that] with the move to more in-person classes in the spring, the learning will be more meaningful than ever.”

“I think for some it will help bring more stability and familiarity. I think for some, particularly those students who do not return, it may create more difficulties and challenges,” Hew said. “Ultimately, the hope is that teachers and students can work together to achieve the best possible experience given the circumstances.”

Many seniors expressed their desire to be on campus for their last term at Exeter. “The Dunbar [dorm] community has also played such an important role in my Exeter experience, and I wouldn’t want to miss out on that during my last year here,” senior Sarah Huang said. 

Lower Sofia Morais emphasized the lack of opportunities for social interaction on a virtual platform. “I knew I wanted to return to campus as soon as possible, since I missed seeing my friends in person everyday—Facetime just isn't the same,” Morais said. “I haven't been leaving the house much since I've been home, and I miss being able to walk around campus to sports and dining halls.”

“I think for a lot of students taking classes from home has been very emotionally draining because it forces us to take on more responsibilities within our families or communities while simultaneously trying to balance Exeter commitments,” lower Montana Dickerson said.

Time zones were an important deciding factor for many international students. “Winter term thus far hasn't been particularly fun because I'm 13 hours ahead of the East Coast, meaning I'm taking my classes late at night and first thing in the morning, so I'm looking forward to living on a more ‘normal’ schedule,” prep Rex Bedwick said. 

“I experienced fall term in a time zone that is 12 hours ahead of EST. Being active in various activities such as sports, music and clubs has been difficult. That was when I made my decision to get on campus as soon as I could,” prep Gunn Sukhum from Thailand said.

“As an international student with most of my friends living in the US, I feel quite disconnected during remote learning,” lower and Hong Kong resident Jackie Wood said.

Some international students are anticipating difficult returns due to travel procedures. “As a student returning from a country [Brazil] from which direct flights to the US have been cancelled, I have to quarantine for 14 days in a different country before coming to the US,” upper Pedro Coelho said. “My family is planning on flying to Argentina, quarantine there for two weeks, wait 48 more hours for the results of a PCR test administered at the end of quarantine, and then fly to Logan.”

Senior Haruka Masamura, from New Zealand, highlighted potential travel complications. “There’s only one flight every three or four days. It might be a little difficult because I’m going to have layovers that are super long and I think there’s only one day for me to arrive on [March 20]. Because of the fewer flights I think it’ll be better if there’s more flexibility around when we can arrive,” Masamura said. 

As a domestic student, Morais expressed reservations about safety protocols within the United States. “I'm a little concerned about going through the airport, since cases have been rising and a lot of people seem to be more relaxed about traveling now,” Morais said. “I'm also a bit worried about sitting very close to people on the plane, since the last time I flew to Exeter for fall term I was on a completely full flight.”

“I hope the [bus] driver brings extra PPE or the school places PPE within the vans,” senior Seth Amofa said. “Obviously, we want to maintain social distancing and try to follow the guidelines.”

Rankin’s concerns over the community’s safety stemmed from the presence of the new COVID-19 variant. “I am preparing myself mentally for this by recognizing that the same public health protocols will work against the new variants,” Rankin said. “Higher transmissibility variants just mean that each of us needs to be even more attentive to these protocols: wash hands, wear a mask and maintain physical distance.”

Although prep Vedika Amin acknowledges that traveling in a pandemic has undeniable risks, Amin believed that “the Academy is already doing a great job prioritizing everyone's health and safety.”

“While there are some in our community who may not be comfortable with the plan to bring everyone back, or who cannot be in person due to being high-risk, we proved in the fall that it is possible to be in our community and be safe for the majority of us,” Soucy said. “We all need to do our part (masks, social distance, wash hands) and what we are comfortable with for our own health. And I am hopeful that the vaccine will be available soon so we can be even more confident in our ability to re-join on campus together.”