Charlotte, N.C. / April 29, 2020 - In March, the COVID-19 pandemic forced JCSU to move to remote learning for the remainder of the semester and restrict campus access to essential employees. Students living on campus were required to vacate. While the majority returned home to their families, not all students have that option. Tawanda Nyahasha ’20 is one of a handful of students, who with JCSU permission and supervision, remain on campus.
“I think the biggest challenge is just the uncertainty. Everything is so unpredictable you can't plan for anything the situation is changing daily,” Nyahasha said.
Nyahasha was recruited to JCSU from his home country of Zimbabwe, Africa. Arriving in America alone, he received help from JCSU’s Phasing Up to New Possibilities program, which caters to students who aged out of foster care, or in Nyahasha’s case, a student without family or support system in this county to help his transition.
He has been able to grow and find himself in JCSU’s family-like atmosphere, so he misses the daily human interaction.
“What I miss most is simply the people, even when you don’t talk to them, just having them around at times makes a difference,” he shared. “Friends, classmates, faculty and staff who have and continue to reach out to me, asking if I'm okay, it is really appreciated. It's the little things like that, that make you see the good in an otherwise gloomy situation.”
Nyahasha, living a more solitary spring semester, attends class through video conferencing and he submits assignments virtually. He is typically done by midafternoon and spends the rest of the day listening to music, watching TV and reading a lot of Shakespeare, at the time of this interview, he was reading “Othello.” His choice in reading material is not surprising at all, Nyahasha is passionate speaker and writer. We recently featured him following the release of his first poetry book.
Some seniors are rightfully disappointed on the how COVID 19 pandemic has impacted their final semester, Nyahasha has a positive outlook on the situation. “Surprisingly I'm not too saddened about that. I mean of course it would have been great to finish the semester walk the stage in May etc. But there's really no point being too fixated on what could have been. I am graduating, completing my undergraduate journey and looking forward to what's in store. That's good enough for me.”
