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I was in my college photography class in the darkroom for four hours from (I want to say 7-11). School didn't cancel. Made no announcement. Texting, ubiquitous cellphones, instant news alerts were still science fiction. Had no idea the world changed.
The halls, lounges, quad, etc. were a bit off when the lab let out, but there was no indication our lives were upending. The school left those of us that made it to campus that morning in the dark about our future (no pun intended). We followed our routines.
It wasn't until after lunch, while killing time in a low traffic computer lab, in the basement of the science building, that I finally learned. The professor on lab duty had a TV showing the news in the far corner. I could barely hear it, but the host reading a list of public venue closures like Disney and museums caught my attention because what could warrant the extent and variety of closures?
I called across the lab (it was only me and the Professor) asking what was going on. I'll never forget the look of absolute devastation on his face when he turned to me replying, "You don't know?” in a trembling voice.
I didn’t know.
I do not recall if a went to my next class or not. My memory hangs on watching that TV and seeing replays of the morning's events. At some point I had to have left the computer lab (I’m not still there), but whether it was 30min or 3 hours later, I have no idea. I can’t tell you anything else I did that day. I have no idea if I sought out friends and family or retreated to comfortable, secure isolation.
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