A few days ago at 10 p.m., I sat on the phone with my partner, curled up in a blanket, petting my childhood cat and telling her about my plans for putting together the last Kaimin of the semester. We have this conversation every Sunday, usually in person, but this time it was different. This…
I’m 23 and back at my parents’ house. Which isn’t so bad. I alternate between old woman activities and preteen ones – from knitting (potholders, mostly, thanks for asking), to scrapbooking, to TikTok dances and PlayStation. Anything to distract myself from family drama, my canceled graduatio…
It was well into the afternoon. I still hadn’t left my bed.
Last week, Wisconsin held its primary elections, the first major election since the nation shut down due to coronavirus. It wasn’t exactly smooth sailing. Wisconsin Democrats pushed for extended absentee ballot deadlines and even a postponement of the election entirely, motions that were blo…
I never could have imagined that my graduate school experience would include a global pandemic, causing the school to shut its doors, move online, and ask so much of its students. It's important to have gratitude during these times, or the pressure and the change can be so overwhelming. I am…
Since social distancing started in March, we’ve all had to make some major changes in our day-to-day lives. The University of Montana has done its best to accommodate these changes with online coursework and lectures, and as students, we can appreciate that. However, many of the details of h…
The silence is what really gets you.That, and the physical act of being alone, is enough to send someone over the edge if they can’t reel in the workings of their own mind. The quiet has a power that is unexpected.Social distancing, known to me as theact of being alone, is one of the most vi…
I called my mom on Tuesday before spring break knowing she would be upset. She planned to drive from our hometown of Austin, Texas, all the way to Missoula to go skiing, see her old friends and spend some time with her oldest son (me).“It doesn’t look good,” I said. “I think it is time to hu…
The news is more uncertain than usual. Information we have now could be, and likely is, drastically different from tomorrow morning. Everyone is trying to adjust to this new reality. And UM’s administration is no exception.Given the circumstances, the University is doing a good job. Even bef…
Since the emergence of the coronavirus, the lives of UM students have changed dramatically. In a matter of weeks, our classes commuted to our laptops. Students were asked to leave their homes in the dorms by all means possible. In almost all of the ways that count, campus is shut down.
I called my mom on Tuesday before spring break knowing she would be upset. She planned to drive from our hometown of Austin, Texas, all the way to Missoula to go skiing, see her old friends and spend some time with her oldest son (me).
From Wuhan to Milan to Qom to Seattle, coronavirus has arrived. As of March 9, 34 states and the District of Columbia have already reported cases of the virus, and 19 people in the U.S. have died from the disease. Though officials are still working to determine exactly how the disease spread…
It seems like Montana State University’s new recruitment strategy is to email current University of Montana students at 4:38 a.m. Whether MSU’s graduate program is reaching out to UM students to encourage them to apply, or simply congratulating students for making UM’s dean’s list, it’s a li…
In the aftermath of the Oscars, Twitter was flooded with posts about all the winners and their accomplishments. My newsfeed in particular was overwhelmed by posts about Maori director Taika Waititi. But more importantly, my newsfeed posts were filled with praise and gratitude that two people…
