New Perspective on College Seasons Amid COVID-19

By Shane Davis

Working around the campus gives you an inimitable perspective of everything. I started working at NHTI during this past winter break as the HVAC and refrigeration technician, and in the brief time I’ve been here, there have been several big transitions that offered a unique view of the school and area.

I haven’t been in New England very long, but I can appreciate the quaint nuances that make this a beautiful part of the country. When students came back from winter break this past year, things for the most part looked like a normal college campus; little did we know that things were about change big time. I met some students and staff and formed a general idea of what campus life was like during the winter months after a few weeks.

In March, campus emptied again for Spring break and, due to COVID-19, none of the students returned. The campus being so quiet has offered me a unique opportunity to see it in a different perspective. It has become a different world completely.

Even in this unusual and mostly frustrating period, there have been snippets that make the daily struggles a little easier to bear. The best example is the spring bloom; it was definitely something I tried to capture. The animals have also take full advantage of the missing people, but they aren’t as easy to photograph, but just as enjoyable to watch and see.

With the fall semester starting, it will be exciting to see more changes around the campus, with people scurrying about, instead of squirrels and gophers.