The past few weeks have been a whirlwind with ups, downs and a lot of false hope.
When I left Moscow for spring break on the infamous Friday the 13th, I had no idea I spent my last night in my beloved house with all my Delta Zeta sisters until going back for recruitment in August.
I didn’t even say goodbye to all my friends before leaving, because at the time it seemed like business as usual. I had hope that it would soon return to normal.
I had so much to look forward to in the second half of the semester like formals, philanthropies and socials.
The second I got the email from President C. Scott Green that said classes would be online indefinitely and all events were cancelled, my heart sunk.I called my best friend and sorority sister Patience Mateer to mourn the loss of our usual routine.
We encouraged each other to look on the bright side. We would still be able to spend time together, because the house was staying open for those who needed it, and we both worked on campus.
Later that week our nationals emailed us saying housing would follow university guidelines and close down with the rest of campus.
With this additional bomb dropped, my hopes were crushed all over again.
Many of my sorority sisters had similar experiences of grief and disappointment.
One sister, Audrey Bird, said she was heartbroken that the semester was cut short, especially because this was her last semester living in house. She felt like she was giving up her future memories. Bird said it’s felt crazy that the last night she stayed in the house was unknowingly her last.
Another sister from Delta Zeta, Shelby Larson, was able to find an apartment in Moscow to stay at after learning about the closure of our house.
Larson feels she is very lucky to be able to stay in Moscow for her health care job but misses her second family. She’s also sad she won’t have more memories and crazy stories of late nights hanging out in the house. But she understands the closure was for the health and benefit of everyone.
This displacement also affected many of the men of the University of Idaho’s fraternities.
A close friend of mine, Preston Murrillo, is a member of Pi Kappa Phi fraternity said he has had a hard time transitioning back into living at home. He misses being around his support system of brothers, his biggest resource for stress. Murrillo said it’s hard to focus on school without his brothers around.
Some other houses are remaining open for those who need to stay in Moscow, but many students have decided to go home.
We all have similar experiences and we’re heartbroken that our time with our friends and our support system was cut short unexpectedly. Even though times are tough, we are excited to come back in the fall and make more memories.
Paige Fiske can be reached at [email protected].