East Lansing residents look back after one year of COVID-19

The following interviews were conducted by students in Professor Amy Haimerl’s feature writing class at Michigan State University. Each of them was asked to find East Lansing residents with interesting stories to share — particularly as we round off the first full year of the COVID-19 pandemic in Michigan. Each segment was edited for length and clarity.

Anonymous student, bartender at anonymous downtown East Lansing bar

The buzz of laughter and a good party fills the air. People crowd together, trying to order their next drink at the bar. The state’s reopening rules say it should be at 50% capacity, but it still feels crowded. Behind the bar, a Michigan State student is slinging cocktails. Even though she knows there’s a risk of catching COVID-19, she works most weekends because the tips are good and she needs the money to pay her tuition. We granted the student — and the bar — anonymity to get a behind-the-scenes account of what it’s like to bartend during a pandemic.

City Pulse: What has the atmosphere been like since the bars reopened?

Bartender: Honestly, it has been scary. After working a bar shift, I always wait a couple days before coming back to East Lansing. I wouldn’t say our bar is “great” at following COVID-19 guidelines. Our boss just wants his business to stay afloat. I understand, but every single person working at the bar has had COVID-19, except myself.

CP: What about the customers?

Bartender: All the customers are happy to be out, but they don’t care about the virus. It’s very hypocritical of me to say since I work there, but they don’t understand the harm of it.

CP: What was it like working before indoor dining reopened?

Bartender: Before the reopening, we had a dine-in tent for customers. Customers and workers would be standing directly next to each other. The whole area was packed. Our workers had to wear masks, but since the tents were outside we couldn't enforce masks on our customers. Even some of the bartenders got away without wearing masks, which I guess is a personal choice. I just think, as humans, we should care about others and wear a mask out of respect.

CP: How often do you get tested for COVID-19?

Bartender: I get tested whenever I know I’m going back to work at the bar. After I get done working at the bar, I usually wait a couple days to see if I have any symptoms. I know I’m putting myself at risk, so exposure is always a consequence to making money.

CP: You mom is in healthcare. How does she feel about you working during a pandemic?

Bartender: It’s hard to say because she knows I need to work for school money, but she also doesn’t want me risking catching COVID-19. My mom works in a hospital, so she would rather me not work at the bar. She still supports whatever I choose to do, but sometimes I feel guilty. I want to make her proud and show her I can pay for my own schooling.

CP: How have the tips been?

Bartender: Way less. There were nights that I would bring home $400 in tips. Now I average around $160 a night, which is still good, I guess.

CP: What are customers ordering?

Bartender: A Shirley Temple with alcohol is definitely one of the fan favorites at the bar. It’s funny seeing how drink orders change throughout the pandemic. Since Halloween, we started upcharging the drinks because so many people wanted them. We even changed the name around Valentine’s Day to “Bloody Valentine.” When we made the drink even more red with cranberry juice, more customers started buying it.

— CHLOE WEST

Monique Jardell, junior fieldhockey player at MSU

Wake up. Practice. Class. Study. Hang out. COVID-19 test. Repeat.

This is the daily life of Monique Jardell, a student-athlete who plays field hockey for Michigan State University. She has spent most of the pandemic on campus, adjusting to online classes and wondering when she’d be able to play field hockey again. The fall sport, like so many others, was postponed due to health concerns. She hits the field again this month, though there won’t be any fans in the stands. Here’s a glimpse into student athlete life amid the pandemic.

CP: How does it feel to be back on the field after your fall season was postponed to the spring?

Jardell: It honestly feels surreal. Going through the fall without playing a game was really difficult. We hadn’t played a game since November 2019, so this spring season has been a long time coming. Being back on the field and finally starting up the season has been so refreshing.

CP: How did you have to change your training because of the pandemic?

Jardell: It has been very different. We are having to wear masks when we play now the entire time, which makes it ten times harder, as well as trying to social distance as much as possible. Obviously when we are on the field that’s pretty hard to do, but on the sideline and between drills we really try to keep our distance. Since the season moved to the spring and it is cold, we can’t practice outside. We are inside training on a different surface, which is difficult to adjust to.

CP: Are you worried about having a season during the pandemic?

Jardell: Yeah, I definitely had some concerns about the season. We have a smaller team and the risk of one of us getting COVID-19 and then some or all of us having to potentially sit out and quarantine is really daunting. We would lose a big part of the season in that case.

CP: How often do you have to test for COVID-19?

Jardell: We actually have to test six days a week for about half an hour. We go in every morning to test before we are allowed into practice or go into any other athletic facility. I feel really safe because of how constantly we test and how much we trust those tests. In order to fit these tests in with our classes and practice schedule, we actually switched our practices to the afternoon to be able to get results back before we practice.

CP: Did you ever consider opting out for the season?

Jardell: I never did; I just want to play, so it’s worth the risk. The fear of COVID-19 is very real, but I feel comfortable with the way the athletic staff and program has been managing our safety. Mentally, having a season right now is really hard to focus on but also is a relief knowing we can have some sense of normalcy come back.

CP: How has it been being on campus and training when no one is here?

Jardell: It has definitely changed the entire experience. Not going to in-person classes is weird to begin with, but basically only leaving my apartment for testing and practice is a norm now. We really aren’t able to see anyone outside of our circle, outside of people who we know are tested and safe to be around. It is strange not seeing people on campus but even if campus was packed we have to stay away from them during this time.

CP: Is this all worth it?

Jardell: 100%. Being able to be on the field with my teammates and play the game I love is worth any of the extra protocols we need to follow. I love the sport, my team and this university. Being able to push through and find joy through my sport in this time is really important to me.

— ELENA SHKLYAR

Kelsey Maccombs, executive director at Constellation Cat Café

The Constellation Cat Café opened to fanfare — Cats! Coffee! All together! — just months before the pandemic hit. Last month, it was forced to close the cafe portion. Though all is not lost, there are still plenty of purry friends to adopt. Executive Director Kelsey Maccombs talked about what the cats have been up to, as well as an outlook on the local cafe’s long-term future.

CP: How are the cats handling all of the changes?

Maccombs: Honestly, they don’t really know any different. They’re used to a little bit of chaos because they’re coming from whatever rescue situation, whether they’re owner surrenders them or they were just found outside. So once they’re here, they’re fairly adaptable. I think they have no idea that anything weird is going on.

CP: Tell us about Eli Hiss. He was sort of a mascot for Constellation and the internet fell in love with him. How is he liking his adopted life? Have you kept up to date on Hiss’ whereabouts?

Maccombs: One of my best friends ending up adopting him, so I get weekly updates. Eli is huge now, which is so funny because he was really, really underweight when I had him. As soon as he got to his forever home he started eating and didn’t stop. They have a dog in their family and he really wants to be friends. But the dog is like, “I don’t know about you.”

CP: Did Constellation see an increase in adoptions during the pandemic?

Maccombs: Yeah, definitely. There’s been a huge uptick in adoptions, especially since last summer. The first couple months we were totally shut down and just did a couple of adoptions. Once late spring, probably starting in May, adoptions started getting really busy and have continued to be really busy. I think we adopted out 10 cats in the last week.

CP: So why did you decide to close?

Maccombs: We just do not have the sales to support the staffing. It doesn’t make sense to operate at a loss when we’re funded by things like donations and other contributions. It feels like we need to use people’s money responsibly and I think they want us to use that toward things that actually help cats rather than fun extras. It’s basically just been really sad for all of us.

CP: What do you miss most about pre-pandemic life at the cafe?

Maccombs: Trivia is a really big one. It’s so fun because you really get to nerd out with people who like the same stuff as you. You can just say obscure lines from “Harry Potter” or “Schitt’s Creek” and they’ll get it. I feel like a lot of times with fandoms you’re really only connecting with people on the Internet, so to connect with people in real life about stuff like that is really fun.

CP: You’re very passionate about the cat café. What motivates you to keep it going?

Maccombs: The cats are obviously the intrinsic motivator. It’s so fun to see them get adopted and find the right family who can spoil them like they deserve. I’m also really motivated by my team. We have a really small team right now and everyone is so hardworking and so passionate and full of ideas. We also have a really good community of volunteers and supporters.

CP: What do you want Constellation to look like a year from now?

Maccombs: In a year, I’d like to have our coffee shop back open and thriving, and I would like to have an onsite neonatal kitten nursery in our big wild dreams! That’s been something we’ve been kind of working on in the background and trying to get that started.

— RIZ HATTON

William Gurzick, student and milk carton fan at MSU

During this time of year, the Breslin Center is usually filled with the smell of popcorn, a sea of Spartans and the sound of an unrelenting student section supporting its men’s hoops team. Meet the Izzone: The men’s basketball student section notorious for disturbing opponents with loud chanting, crazy jumping and — at least for some — some fairly outlandish costumes.

Some know William Gurzick as a senior studying advertising. Others know him as a Shipt delivery driver. Most, though, probably know him as the man wearing a milk carton costume over his head during MSU basketball games. Gurzick is a student section leader for the Izzone this year, a year where no fans are allowed to attend games due to COVID-19 precautions. So, what does it take to run a remote student section? It’s different, Gurzick said, but not impossible.

CP: Has the milk carton costume officially been hung up because of the pandemic this year?

Gurzick: Yeah, which is sad. But my brother is a freshman here, and he’s going to be a section leader as well, so I’ll hopefully pass it onto him. And then my sister’s after him, so hopefully that will stay in the family as time goes on.

CP: Because the pandemic has forced the Breslin to be closed off to fans, how are leaders running the Izzone? Take me through the process of what you’ve done to keep fans engaged.

Gurzick: We still made t-shirts, except they said, “Izzone From Home,” and it was like the 2020 shirt. Then, we just try to keep everyone, especially the students of the Izzone, engaged by keeping up with our Twitter and Instagram. We’re just trying to keep everyone excited like we would if it were a real season.

CP: So, basically business as usual?

Gurzick: We just try to keep it as normal as possible without actually being there, so we just go on as normal but without actually going into the games.

CP: Do you think the Izzone’s virtual influence this year has been helping the team at all?

Gurzick: I would hope to think so. I hope they feel our energy at some level. I think they’ve reacted to some Instagram or Twitter posts. I just hope we can give them some sort of juice.

CP: It’s your last year here as a student. Do you feel like you’re missing out on anything?

Gurzick: Not being able to have my last year in the Izzone is definitely a bummer. I’m watching the games from home. Seeing an empty Breslin Center really is tough, but we just keep trying to stay positive. Obviously for me, I just try to relish in the times that I did have there. That’s the only thing I really can do now, but I’m thankful for the Izzone and MSU Basketball for doing that, giving me that happiness that it brought to me.

CP: What are you looking forward to the most  for when you can come back to the Breslin?

Gurzick: The atmosphere. That’s what I fell in love with the first time I ever walked in there when I was a kid. So, that’s something that I’ll hopefully be able to do soon in the future.

— JACK FALINSKI

Ray Walsh, owner at Curious Book Shop and Archives Book Shop

Ray Walsh has been a familiar figure in East Lansing since 1969, when he first started selling books. Since then, his stores, Curious Book Shop and Archives Book Shop, have become favorite haunts of students looking to while away an hour inside looking through the packed shelves for classic novels, vintage magazines and old sci-fi paperbacks. Even as Amazon and online shopping has dominated book sales, Walsh has kept his stores open thanks to their loyalty and online support. But what do you do when most of your customers move back home?

CP: What was it like in those first few weeks after students were sent home from campus?

Walsh: It was almost like a zombie zone except there were no bodies. My employees were leaving to go home and weren’t coming in for a while. It was like a double whammy. We weren’t getting people coming in, but we wouldn’t have enough people to handle our hours.

CP: What’s the biggest change you’ve noticed while running Curious Book Shop?

Walsh: Well, significantly fewer people have been coming in, including students. A lot of people who frequently come in from out of town have not been coming in as much either. Missing the students is a major detriment to business. Not only mine, but many of the others downtown.

CP: Many new freshmen are still moving to the city. Have you noticed any fresh faces?

Walsh: We’ve had a number of people coming into both shops who said “Gee I’ve never been here before,” or “I’m driving by and I just saw this place is open and I figured I’d see what you have.” They seem to be very pleasantly surprised, and say “I’ll have to tell other people.” We have a Facebook Page for Curious Books and we add something to it every week and sometimes more than that. That has helped get the word out as well.

CP: Has the pandemic forced the shop to pursue new ways of reaching customers?

Walsh: I can’t say it forced us to, but I think it caused us to take more advantage of it. One of the other things that we’re on, that’s helped a lot at Curious, has been Etsy. A lot of people say “Well yeah, but that’s for craft stuff.” Well, we’re putting a lot of things on there that are books and other paper items. In some cases we’re doing more on sales on Etsy in a day than we are at the shop. Right now, we have 600 items on Etsy. So that has certainly helped us survive.

CP: What has been selling the best?

Walsh: Because our prices are frequently half normal retail prices, we have been selling a lot of classics: Hemingway, Faulkner, Fitzgerald. We’re selling a lot of children’s books, everything from Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys to Goosebumps and various other types of books. We have a number of homeschoolers coming in and we can’t keep some used books in stock.

CP: Have you been reading anything interesting? What are you reading now?

Walsh: I did a review last week on a book of haiku that was published locally called “Because of this Light.” I like giving local writers some recognition. I enjoyed it. It makes me want to sit down and write some haiku, too.

CP: Looking towards the future, what’s in store for your businesses?

Walsh: Well we still want to try and stay in business. We want to try to have interesting books that customers will want to come in for and drive in from out of town. We still want to be a destination shop and to be able to supply a lot of books to a lot of readers and collectors. We want to try to keep our staff employed, and hopefully there will be more business in East Lansing. We are looking forward to students coming back but it’s still going to be a while.

— KYLE DAVIDSON

Nick Ragnone, teacher at Donnelly Elementary School

After graduating from MSU with a degree in education last spring, Nick Ragnone was excited about his upcoming internship co-teaching third grade at Donnelly Elementary in East Lansing. However, as the school year edged closer and it became clear it was not safe to return to the classroom, he confronted a very stressful reality: His first-time teaching would have to happen virtually. Ragnone shared his experiences — something college did not prepare him for, he said.

CP: What has it been like having your first teaching experience be virtual?

Ragnone: It’s funny. A lot of teachers said switching to online made them feel like first-year teachers again. I felt like I could bring more to the table because I have more technology experience, so I was able to come up with more ideas and contribute more right away. It’s actually been nice because I’ve felt more a part of a team from the beginning.

CP: What’s the hardest thing about teaching online?

Ragnone: It’s been a lot more work than I expected, mostly because all of our lessons have to be translated into an online format. The hardest thing is I’ve had to come up with different ways to approach a lesson so the kids can all have a chance to learn in the way that they like to. For a math problem, that might look like giving them blocks so they can see what’s happening. But those manipulatives aren’t available online, so we have to come up with other ways, like games.

CP: What have you learned about teaching?

Ragnone: The main thing I’ve been learning is how to answer questions I wasn’t expecting. Sometimes students will say something you totally weren’t expecting, and it feels kind of like improv in that moment trying to figure out how to respond. There have been some instances where a student mentions a tragic experience that you weren’t expecting them to bring up on a Monday morning, and you just have to figure out how to respond.

CP: Have there been any funny instances like that?

Ragnone: A dad got on for their student and told me that the screen had stopped working on their Chromebook because the cat knocked it off the table. He was asking me what to do. Having to deal with cats ruining equipment was not something I was prepared for in college!

CP: Donnelly Elementary shifted back to in-person teaching on March 1. How is that going?

Ragnone: It has been crazy. The kids have been really well behaved and they’re adjusting much better than I expected. This first week back has been a sort of orientation week where we are just trying to get them used to new routines. We are trying to take it kind of slow.

CP: How are the kids at following COVID-19 protocols?

Ragnone: Honestly, I was surprised at just how on top of it the kids were. It feels like they’ve been doing this the entire year.

CP: Has anything about the transition back to in-person learning been unexpected?

Ragnone: One of the things that was surprising for me was seeing how tall or small some of them were. I feel like I’m realizing that they are real kids and not just a picture on a screen. I’ve been taking advantage of the opportunity to talk to them and get to know them in person. 

CP: Are there any challenges to shifting from virtual lessons to teaching in person?

Ragnone: One thing we are doing is giving kids and their parents the option of whether or not they want to come back to the classroom. So now, some of the kids are in the class with us and most are still in the online setting we’ve been used to. Fifteen out of the 40 students in my grade are back in person, so we are having to teach simultaneously to the students in the classroom and online. It’s going to be a big adjustment having to pay attention to both sets of students.

CP: What does the future look like for you as you finish your internship year?

Ragnone: What’s so different about current interns going into this job market is that everyone needs teachers because so many of the older teachers, when they switched over to online, got overwhelmed and retired. So, for the first time in a long time — and very different from a lot of job markets right now — there is a lot of opportunity for us.

CP: Tell the truth: Do you remember liking third grade way back in the day?

Ragnone: I remember really enjoying my teacher in third grade. I am glad I finally have the chance to be like that teacher.

— JESSIE COHEN