Empty rooms, empty communities, empty dorms. When I returned to campus to pick up my belongings as COVID-19 started to break out, I began thinking about the things I would miss when I headed home.

I thought about the excitement you could feel on campus after spring started to emerge from a long winter, students starting to play frisbee in Eagle Field, and bike rides to Myrick Marsh wearing shorts.

As I walked around Eagle Hall for the final time this semester, I captured scenes that conveyed the emptiness I felt when walking around in a place that was buzzing with activity just a week before.

Later, when thinking about how frustrating it was to have no choice but to pack up my stuff and go home, I realized how little control we have over what happens to us. Especially in a situation like a global pandemic, the only thing we can really control is our attitude toward what happens to us.

It was then I decided to use this series of photos in such a historic time to remind me not to ruminate on things that I cannot change, and instead focus on the things that I can.

Gallery • 7 Photos

Photo by Seth Polfus.