gotijc40@oneonta.edu

April 4
Dear Diary,
I woke up feeling sick. The sickest I have been in a long time, and I didn’t even realize it. I had
chills the whole morning, and my mom checked my temperature and saw I had a fever. I had to
go to the hospital. Thankfully, within a day or two, I got better. I did not have the dreaded virus.
I’m just happy I’m healthy and safe at home with my family.
April 8
Well here’s some good news. I got an opportunity to do some acting during this time of
distance learning. My friend Stephen is a senior student, and he is studying theater. He is taking
a directing class, and he asked me if I wanted to be in a short 2-3-minute scene. We would have
only a few only rehearsals through Zoom and then record the final performance. I felt honored
that he thought of me. So, I accepted the opportunity. I am not going to be on a big stage, but
just to be able to act again makes me happy—even if is a short scene. Rehearsals start next
week.
April 12
Happy Easter! It feels strange to be at home for Easter because I usually visit family. I miss all
my aunts, uncles, and cousins, and I just wonder every day how they are holding up during all of
this. My mom made roasted chicken for dinner and my sister helped her make pumpkin pie for
dessert. It was a great meal, yet I wished we were at a larger gathering.
April 13
I’m not sure what number week we are up to in distance learning, and I am too lazy to check
my previous diary entries to find the answer. I was a little sad today because this week would
have been tech week for Once Upon a Mattress. Tech week rehearsals are the last few
rehearsals before opening night and the cast would get to wear costumes and mics. I wish I was
at school with my friends getting ready for the show, but it was for the best that we were asked
to stay home. I still talk to my friends and check up on them. I think it’s very important to do
that in a time like this.
April 14
Today was my first Zoom rehearsal for Stephen’s directing class. One of the actors in the scene,
Gillian, was a friend I made during Once Upon a Mattress. It was nice seeing her again. The
rehearsal went well. I just need to read over the script and go over my lines.
April 15
Today would have been opening night for Once Upon a Mattress. I wish we could have been at
school today and put on our show. I really miss all my friends.
April 16
Once quarantine is over, I want to go to the movie theater. I miss going to the movies. I’m
trying to find new movies to watch on Netflix or on HBO. So, I decided to watch Alien on HBO.
My dad watched it again recently, and he said it was still a great movie. It was so scary. I had so
many jump scares. But you know what, I loved the movie. The story was great, and I loved the
character of Ellen Ripley. She was very smart and an awesome movie hero. I plan to watch
Aliens tomorrow. Also, today was the first day I could register for classes, but I could not
register for some of my education classes. Yes, I want to be a teacher when I grow up. I just
hope I will still be on track for my degree.
April 17
Wow Aliens is even better than Alien! I love the characters in this one. It might even be more
intense than Alien. Ripley is better in this movie because she is tough, and she is also very
protective of a young girl that she found all alone. The final showdown with Ripley and the
Queen Alien is one of the most awesome action scenes I have ever seen in a movie. Aliens is
now one of my favorite movies. Also, I am trying to find roommates for next semester, and it’s
been difficult. Hopefully I find some soon.
April 18
I’m doing some schoolwork on this lovely Saturday. I am almost done writing a research paper
for my composition class. I have been working on it for 3 weeks now. It will feel great when I
submit it. I am also trying to catch up on calculus homework. I cannot believe we are getting
close to reaching the end of the school year. It still seems so far away, but I am looking forward
to it
April 19
I feel like I should read more books, but I have not made time to do that. I decided to read The
Martian by Andy Weir. I saw the movie version with Matt Damon, and I thought that movie was
great. It had a very pro-science message, and I just loved the creativity Matt Damon’s character
had in order to survive on Mars. Also, he found himself facing adversity, but his optimism never
wavered. I think this is very inspiring and something we should all try to aspire to especially
considering what’s going on in the world with the Coronavirus. Anyways, I hear the book is
better than the movie. I am hoping to finish the book by June. Wish me luck!
April 20
I am not a fan of Mondays, but today was an awesome Monday. I had my Monday Mask and
Hammer meeting, and we were holding elections for a new E-board. I wanted to be able to
participate in the voting, but I needed to be a voting member, and I needed to earn a certain
amount of points to become a voting member. I accumulated points throughout the semester
by helping in front of the house by ushering, sitting in the box office, and managing the
concession stand. I was in the ensemble for Once Upon A Mattress, but the show was
cancelled. I thought I did not earn enough points to become a voting member. Then the vice
president of the club, Sabrina, told me that the current E-board decided to waive the
completion requirement for voting membership points. As a result, I was able to count my role
in the ensemble for points. I still needed 2 points to meet the 15-point requirement, and
Sabrina said people in the club have directing classes and are looking for people to be in their
scenes. Then I remembered that I was involved in a directing scene with Stephen. Once I told
her this, she said I have officially become a voting member. I could nominate other voting
members for E-board positions, and I was even allowed to nominate myself. I decided to run for
the position of Box Office Manager, but I did not win that position. Right after that, we were
going to elect the new secretary, and to my shock, someone nominated me for the position. I
was not sure if I wanted the position, but my heart was telling me to take this opportunity. It is
better to take a chance at something like this than not taking a chance at all. I talked about why
I should be elected. I mentioned how joining the club was the best decision I have made, and I
enjoyed helping the club. I wanted to take a bigger part in getting involved in the fall, and I felt
being on the E-board would be the best way to do that. I was the youngest candidate, while the
other two candidates were seniors. The other candidates and I were kicked out of the Zoom
chat, so the other voting members could discuss who would be the best fit for secretary. Being
an incoming sophomore, I recognized that I was the underdog in this situation. I told myself
that if I do not get the position, I have a lot of opportunities to run for the position next time.
The candidates were all invited back to the Zoom chat, and the first words I heard were
“Congratulations, Julian!” My jaw dropped because I did not expect to get the position. All I
could do was express my thanks because I genuinely was thankful. I was so excited to be on the
E-board with some wonderful people taking the other positions. The day only got better from
there. I am in another club, the Apollo Music Club, and it is also performance related. I did a
concert version of the show Hair back in January, and it was so much fun. We had Zoom
meeting today to discuss our plans for next semester. We were planning to do a concert version
of the show Spring Awakening, which everyone was very excited about. We are hoping to do
the show after Thanksgiving rather than wait until January like we did with Hair. But the best
part about the meeting was that I got to see friends that I have not seen since the pandemic
started. I really miss my friends, and I am hoping we will be back in school to do all these great
activities that I mentioned, such as getting involved on a club E-board and doing a show. This
was a long entry, but that’s because it was such a great day and I needed to write about
everything that happened.
April 21
So, I finally found a roommate group. I plan to live with a sophomore I know named Brett and
senior named Daniel. Daniel said he needed to stay on campus for his final year. I am do not
remember what he said exactly, but that’s what he said. He reached out to Brett a day after I
asked Brett if we could be roommates. We wanted to look for more people to be in our group,
but the people we asked already were already in a roommate group. So, we decided to settle
for living in a triple. Daniel decided to be the group leader, and he sent Brett and me invitations
to accept so we can be in the roommate group. We accepted the invitations, and our
roommate group was officially verified. We still need to pick our room next week, but I am just
happy that I do not need to worry about finding roommates.
April 22
This entry is very late in the night. I was ready to go to sleep, and my friends started texting me.
We were in a group chat for the Apollo Music Club. Freshmen who were interested in joining
the club were added to the group chat. The new students were Luna, Robert, Ellie, and
Alexandra. They showed so much enthusiasm and were excited to sing and be a part of the
shows the club was planning for next semester. I cannot wait to meet these new members in
person.
April 23
So today I was able to register for the education class that was originally closed. My schedule is
complete. I have Mondays and Fridays free. I only have my Calculus III class on Wednesday. On
Tuesday and Thursday, I have four classes. I take Adolescent Growth and Development at 8:30
in the morning. Then at 10 I take my elective class History of Rock Music. I chose this class as an
elective because rock is my favorite genre of music, and I thought it would be an interesting
class to take. Right after that, I have my Calc III class. Then, I don’t have another class until 4:00,
which is Probability and Statistics. That is my last class of the day on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
April 26
I had to watch a movie for my European History class called The Lives of Others, and I thought it
was an excellent film. I thought the story was very compelling, and I feel the performances
really stayed with me. I am glad my teacher introduced it to me.
April 27
Today I finished rehearsals for Stephen’s directing assignment. I was very happy how the scene
turned out. I had so much fun helping Stephen with his assignment. It reminded me of how
much I missed performing and theater in general.
April 28
Today is the last day of classes. All I need to do is take my finals. I hope they go well. This will be
my last entry. I miss my friends. I miss being at school. I miss giving my parents hugs. I miss
eating out. I miss going out to the movie theater. There are so many things I miss. I hope that
this virus will pass soon.