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Quarantine had already been difficult for Gaby Phillips. Not being able to be with her friends and family on Election Day only worsened her feelings of isolation.

Phillips, a senior inclusive elementary and special education major, is one of at least 220 Syracuse University students who spent Election Day in quarantine. As SU’s campus and the country wait for final results to arrive, many of those students said watching the election unfold in isolation has been stressful.

“It’s just uncertain if we’ll know the outcome by tonight or the following days, so it’s definitely hard to not be able to physically be with people,” Phillips said Tuesday. “It’s definitely a little bit lonely to be going through it alone.”

Like Phillips, senior Ally Peyton has found it difficult to be in quarantine on Election Day. Her classes provided a safe space to process her thoughts about the election, and her professors planned to talk about the election in class.

“It’s definitely difficult not being able to share my feelings with my roommates or anyone I would normally talk to,” said Peyton, a policy studies major. “I’m actually weirdly looking forward to my classes.”

Phillips has been following the news more closely while in quarantine, as there’s not much else she can do. Election-related news has been difficult for Peyton to avoid, but she’s tried to pay less attention to it. Brent Huot, a sophomore sports analytics major, spent most of his Election Day in quarantine checking Twitter and polling websites.

Huot, Phillips and Peyton were all able to vote before they began their quarantines.

Processing the election while in quarantine has also been difficult for Anna Levine, a sophomore psychology major.

“It definitely hasn’t really settled in yet because the results aren’t in,” Levine said. “It is kind of interesting to be alone during such a big time in society.”

Students in quarantine used virtual platforms to watch the election with friends and family.

Huot wanted to spend Election Night with friends in DellPlain Hall, where he lives. Now that he’s in quarantine, he planned to join a Zoom meeting with other friends who are also isolating. Levine planned to FaceTime with some friends to watch the election’s results come in.

Phillips FaceTimed several of her friends and family members throughout Election Day. She and Peyton, who are roommates, also planned to have a virtual Netflix party with some of their other roommates to distract them from the uncertainty of the election.

“I’m not focusing on things that are out of my control because, at the end of the day, I’ve done all I can, and now it’s just a waiting game,” Phillips said. “I’m just trying to do things that will help myself.”

Published on November 4, 2020 at 10:39 pm

Contact Mira: mlberenb@syr.edu