Five years ago, COVID-19 was declared a pandemic. Here’s how it changed the lives of 10 students at Brown.

Just over five years ago, the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak a global pandemic. For some today, this period of mask mandates, online school and social isolation feels like a bygone era. But for others, the impacts of the pandemic continue to reverberate half a decade later on College Hill.

Many Brown undergraduates recall the pandemic as the defining event of their high school years.  The Herald spoke to 10 students about how the pandemic impacted their lives before they found their way to Brown.

Juniper Morton ’28 

At the onset of the pandemic, Juniper Morton ’28 worried that online school would make meeting new people difficult. Now, she credits this time for strengthening the connections between her and her friends. 

“My friends and I would be on FaceTime the whole day during (online) school with our phones propped up — not even talking, but just kind of coexisting,” Morton recalled fondly. These moments of social interaction became Morton’s way of reconciling with a new normal at a time when the world around her felt dystopian. 

She highlighted her socially distanced homecoming dance as a standout memory. “It was the most normal I felt at the time: When I was sitting six feet away from people (wearing) a homecoming dress, in a KN95 mask.” 

Carter Via ’28 

Five years after the pandemic, Carter Via ’28 described his family as “more clean” and “more cautious” than they were half a decade ago. 

Via’s dad had a lung condition that put him at high risk for COVID-19, so their family took additional precautions during the pandemic. “My mom would wipe down groceries before taking them inside,” Via said, adding that his family had to be more diligent with wearing masks.

Despite these heightened precautions, he noted that this experience brought him and his family closer, especially because they were living in rural Vermont. “We didn’t really go out to places too often,” he said. Instead, they spent more time at home together.

Emily Benitez ’28 

One day during the pandemic, Emily Benitez ’28 and her family decided to sit down and watch “The Shawshank Redemption.” The film “felt kind of long, but it was good,” she recalled. “We were laughing and having a good time.” 

With more time on her hands, Benitez spent hours watching movies and discovered a love for film. “It’s something I still enjoy doing to this day,” she added. 

She hopes to further pursue this interest at Brown. 

Olivia Bergin ’26

Searching for an outlet in a time of isolation, then-16-year-old Olivia Bergin ’26 turned to music. 

She discovered and found solace in artists like SZA, Frank Ocean and Lana Del Rey — all of whom she still listens to today. “A lot of the lyrics really spoke to me as I was figuring out my identity,” said Bergin, who highlighted Taylor Swift’s “folklore” and “evermore” as her go-to pandemic albums.

Wayne McNamara ’28

In high school, the basketball practices that Wayne McNamara ’28 attended were dampened by COVID-19 restrictions. His team had to wear masks, couldn’t play five-on-five drills because of limits to gym capacity and struggled to get gym access, he recalled. 

The pandemic “came with a lot of ups and downs,” he said. “But it was also my hard work and my own motivation that kind of pushed me through it.” 

He attributes his current work ethic to the support he received from trainers and mentors during the pandemic. “I was fortunate enough to have people that believed in me,” he added.

Luke Nguyen ’26 

Stuck within the confines of his home, Luke Nguyen ’26 turned to the kitchen to develop his cooking skills alongside his mother. “Getting to spend more time with her,” he said, “was a lot of fun.”

Nguyen is living off-campus next year, and he noted that he’s excited to “make his own food instead of having to go to Chili’s (Grill and Bar) every day.” 

His signature dish? Nguyen said he makes a “mean mushroom risotto.”

Luca Salerno Uriarte ’27

COVID-19 hit right after Luca Salerno Uriarte ’27 moved to Newton, Massachusetts, where he had to “learn how to make friends” in a virtual environment. 

Without the ease of an in-person classroom, he forged new friendships over Zoom breakout rooms and on Minecraft servers. “​​I think it motivated me, in a sense, to be more outgoing,” he said.

Kyla Zhang ’27 

Kyla Zhang ’27 cherishes the time she spent with her family during the pandemic. 

“Now, in college, I only see them for two months throughout the whole year,” Zhang said. “I’m just grateful that the world gave us that chance to be together.”

Milo Akerman ’28

Milo Akerman ’28 hails from Miami, which he described as “a terrible place to be during a pandemic because there’s nothing to do.” 

The isolation made Akerman “very antisocial” for a few years — something he said he’s still “slowly recovering” from. To this day, he pushes himself to do things outside of his comfort zone “just for the sake of not being in my room all the time and not rotting in my bed,” he added.

Ella Giampietro ’28 

For Ella Giampietro ’28, the onset of the pandemic coincided with a major life change — moving to Rhode Island. 

Although the move felt like a “reset,” Giampietro learned to stay in touch with friends and hold onto the relationships that mattered. 

“It taught me to appreciate the people that I meet,” she added.