I worked part time as an Instacart delivery shopper until my full-time job started in June. A lot of people who are high risk for COVID-19 cannot go to the grocery store, so I did the shopping for them and delivered groceries to their houses (of course, while taking proper safety precautions). It was a great way to get out of the house a little bit and help those in need!
—Matt Fajt ’20
We have witnessed our three children and their families working from home, two teachers in our family coping with online lessons, two college students ending their year online, and one fourth grader attending school online. One college student, our grandson, Kyle, graduated from Wabash in a virtual commencement.
—Fred Warbinton ’63
At the start of the stay-at-home order here in California, my wife and I were sitting outside the grocery store waiting for our order to be filled when she said, “What if there was a way to quickly check a person for the virus before they entered the store?” Her question prompted me to contact an old friend, who is a top researcher in bioinformatics, to see what he had been up to lately.
It turns out he had been developing a high school biology class in bioinformatics for the last nine years and was two months from being finished. I was smart enough to marry a great grant writer, and she contacted my friend with the idea of writing a grant to automate his course so a virtual avatar would be able to teach this course to an unlimited number of students.
—Bill Kerney ’66
One of the pleasant surprises of the pandemic was that my two teenage daughters stayed at home doing virtual learning beginning early March. Our older daughter attends college in Boston. The younger one, who’s still in high school, had been so inundated with activities when school was open that she was home only to sleep, it seemed. It was really nice to have them both home more.
—Ken Sun ’88
Three weeks after I graduated from Wabash as a Spanish major, my wife, who was also in the Army, and I received our first assignment to the Panama Canal Zone from 1970 to 1974. We passed through Costa Rica on our drive home and determined then it might be worth another visit.
We returned to Costa Rica in 2011 for the first time in 37 years. It was still the paradise we had remembered. We purchased about a half-acre of land with a killer view of the Pacific coast.
Wabash created in me an attitude that life is to be savored, explored, and that one should push oneself to experience new adventures. Costa Rica has not disappointed as an opportunity to try new things.
The virus has, at least temporarily, put a halt to our international travel.
We have decided that peace, tranquility, friendship, great weather, healthy climate, fresh produce, and an easy pace of life, outweigh the world we watch through our television window as we are brought the nightly news.
—John Buford ’69
In May, my now-wife, Alanna, and I had our had first dance live on the Today show. Anchor Hoda Kotb spoke with six couples from around the world (India, Australia, the Bahamas, Costa Rica, Hong Kong, and the United States) who had to change their wedding plans due to the pandemic. The biggest surprise was when Train's lead singer, Pat Monahan, appeared and sang his hit song “Marry Me” while all of us danced in our living rooms in our wedding attire.
—Jonathon Weaver '19
In working with the press freedom nonprofit, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), I had been following stories out of the city of Wuhan in the Hubei province from the moment Chinese video journalist Chen Qiushi disappeared in early February—not long after he’d reported on a shortage of supplies in local hospitals.
By late February, when there were only 15 documented COVID-19 cases in the United States, I purchased two reusable N-95 masks with extra filters after I'd read in CPJ’s safety advisory for journalists traveling to Wuhan that front-line media workers going into healthcare facilities would want to use these types of masks to keep themselves safe from harm.
I’ve devoted my time and energy lately to the press freedom fight, because of journalists like Chen Qiushi, but also because of time I spent on the Syrian border in refugee camps, where I was struck by the question, “Who will tell their story?” Without that story being told, there was no aid, no rush to help. Now, for me, the pandemic has brought home the painful reality that access to information during a public health crisis, as much as when a country faces civil conflict, could not be more crucial or life-giving. Some of my colleagues like to say that, sometimes, truth is the first casualty during a crisis, but it doesn't have to be.
—Philip Eubanks ’06
I am a pulmonary and critical care physician at the University of Michigan. I have the privilege of taking care of many critically ill COVID-19 patients in our intensive care units. Although I expect nothing less, I am truly humbled by the selfless dedication of all my colleagues on the front lines: physicians, nurses, nurse practitioners, respiratory therapists, paramedics, survival flight teams, pharmacists, phlebotomists, radiology technicians, and others to provide the very best care to our patients during such difficult and uncertain times. This pandemic has further fueled my lifelong commitment to care for the sickest.
—Wassim Labaki ’08
Aside from Wabash activities, my husband, Charles ’70, enjoys going to a climbing gym to climb or work youth tournaments. He is retired but still provides consulting and fiscal services. Charlie is very social and truly enjoys being with other people.
That had to stop with COVID-19. The only time he can go into the office is in the evenings when no one is there. We are babysitting our 2-year-old granddaughter during the weekdays. She and Charlie take daily walks to Minnehaha Creek nearby. They go on adventures, see people from at least six feet away, and even talk to them!
I was stuck at home before COVID-19, so my life stays pretty much the same. I like having Charlie home more often; we are crossword puzzlers and like trivia and reading.
—Mary Crowley