Category: Shaun

We’ve been doing this thing for a month.

That fact struck me today when I was sitting in a park in Brookline, reading a depressing story in last week’s New Yorker, watching a group of dog owners do their best to stay 6 feet apart from one another, thinking about how nice it was just to sit in the sun because I know it’s going to get too cold to do that in just a few week’s time. 

We’ve been doing this face covering, nose swabbing, class streaming, mobile ordering, symptom surveying thing for longer than a lot people thought we could — longer, certainly, than a lot of people thought we should. And it’s going OK. Less than one-tenth of 1 percent of students and employees on campus have tested positive for the virus, the data shows, and lab results are now consistently coming back in less than a day. 

So many parts of campus life that felt normal earlier this year — packing so tightly into the BU Shuttle you could barely breathe, waiting in a half-hour line for a bagel at Einstein’s, screaming the words to “Mr. Brightside” in a basement you barely remember — are uncomfortable and distressing to think about now. This pandemic, more than probably anything else in our 18 to 22-year lifetimes so far, has fundamentally changed the way we interact with the world. 

Will life at BU ever go back to the way it was? For me, as a senior, it almost certainly will not. The university has already delayed the start of classes next semester and canceled spring break. When I have my graduation ceremony (if I may be so bold as to assume I will graduate) it will be together with the Class of 2020, who got perhaps the worst end of a very ugly stick. 

And it would be naive, I think, to assume any aspect of the world around us will ever return to the way it was pre-pandemic. History has never taken place in a vacuum, and our country’s gross inequities around access to healthcare and financial security — which are splintered along racial and socioeconomic lines — will undoubtedly impact future policymaking for years to come. 

Even at BU, in our huge but tiny bubble, I’m sure all the infrastructure that was put in place for remote learning and student health services will continue to be used. There’s just no way the university would have taken on the gargantuan cost of bringing back thousands of students, from all over the world, without considering how it can benefit them in the long-run.

But when we look back at this time five, 10, 15 years from now (even at the daily reminders to fill out a survey we’ve already completed), I’m confident we’ll be happy we took the safety measures we did. Following the rules was, we will realize, 100 percent worth it. 

Because I’ll say it again: things are going OK right now. And they can continue going OK, too. Whether or not they go OK is up to us. But we’ve been doing it all for a month, which is long enough that to abandon it now would be nothing short of a waste. 

I'm a big transit nerd. Want to talk about trains? smrobs@bu.edu! 

1: Walking

Honestly, anywhere you need to get to on the Charles River campus is walkable if you give yourself enough time. Sure, it’s cold out, but throw on a coat and accept the fact that we live in Boston. It’s also one of just two options here that are free!

2: The MBTA 57 bus

DO NOT SLEEP on the 57. It comes more frequently than both the Green Line and the BU Shuttle, and it can get you up and down campus much faster, too. It’s cheaper than the subway — $1.70 — and there are seven stops between Kenmore and West Campus.

3: The MBTA Green Line

I don’t need to explain much here. The Green Line is your best option if you're coming back to campus from downtown Boston. But, for on-campus trips, you’re better served taking another service (or walking!).

4: Bluebikes

These are pretty affordable, just $2.50 per trip, and extremely easy to use. All of that pesky construction in West Campus is wrapping up and has given way to some lovely protected bike lanes. The city also just recently created an eastbound bike lane on Bay State Road.

6: The BU Shuttle

The reason I have the BUS so low on this list — a list about Comm Ave. transportation — is that the BUS was originally designed to get students between the Charles River and Medical campuses, and not to ferry them up and down Comm. Ave. alone. There is a Comm. Ave loop, but the service is unreliable and the BU tracking app sometimes just gives up. It is, however, free!

7: Uber/Lyft

This is by far the most expensive option on this list; a ride-hailing trip across campus can run you anywhere from $7-$15 for a private car and $5-8 for a shared one. If you’re going somewhere off campus, like an apartment in Brookline, I can see the appeal of taking a car. But you’re almost always better off saving that dough and choosing another way. 

I know what you’re thinking — aren’t co-ops a Northeastern thing? If I had wanted to take a semester off of classes to go work, wouldn’t I have gone to school on the E Line, not on the B Line?

Maybe, but hear me out when I say that, even for a BU student, a co-op can be a fantastic experience and a great way to break up the rhythm of classes. I’m doing a co-op this semester at The Patriot Ledger, a daily newspaper based in Quincy, Mass. that covers about 30 cities and towns south of Boston. That means I’m not taking any classes; instead, I commute to and from an office each workday like a (semi) adult. I still live on campus and eat in the dining halls, but I haven’t done a lick of schoolwork since May. 

I’m really happy that I chose to do a co-op, and while I know it's an uncommon thing for a BU student to do, it’s something I would suggest considering if you have the space in your schedule. Many COM students will have that space, I’ve found, and it’s an experience that can show you firsthand what a future career could look like on a daily basis. 

Luckily, I still like what I’m doing — print journalism — after almost five months of doing it for 40+ hours a week. That’s the big risk you take with a co-op. It’s a bigger commitment than most internships are, so if you hate it, you’re kind of stuck for the long haul. But if you love it, I don’t think there’s any better way to get real-world experience in your field as an undergraduate student. 

I’ve also found that my co-op is a nice break from the rhythm of classes and, especially, exams. I know it’s midterm season on campus because my friends are busy studying, but for me, it’s just been like any other couple weeks. In fact, I’ve almost found my life has more structure nowadays than it did at any point before in my college career. I wake up at the same time, eat at the same time, commute at the same time and get home at the same time every weekday.

And I think that when the time comes, I’ll be more than ready to get back into that full-on college student rhythm. So yes, I know we don't go to Northeastern. I know ours is the B Line, not the E. But consider a co-op, anyway!