Finding a Way Home

Motivated by family time and caring for others, Philipp Reiser`20 continues his classes online from his home in Austria.

MMU: How have the state’s policies regarding COVID-19 affected your day-to-day life? What does your typical day look like now compared to before?

PR: At the beginning, the state´s policies did not really affect my day- to- day life, because I was still trying to do the usual things. But, I have always in mind now that I should keep more distance to people, wash and sanitize my hands more often as well as to be more aware.

MMU: Did you decide to go home to Austria? If so, when did you decide to do so and what obstacles did you face trying to get home? If not, what has your living situation become here?

PR: I took me and my family some time to decide if I should go home or not. But, after the Austrian government announced that every Austrian citizen should come home immediately, it was clear for me that it is probably better to go home and be with my family. In addition, I was very lucky because I catch the last flight from Chicago to Vienna. After this flight, they canceled all flights to Austria and the country was under a complete lockdown. Nobody was allowed to be on the streets anymore, only for groceries, shopping, or short walks.

MMU: How else have the social distancing policies affected you and your family? What are you doing to cope?

PR: The online classes keep me really busy every day and I feel like there is more work to do than ever. My family and I can have walks with my dog multiple times a day and we are able to have actual family dinners. Usually, at least one family member was always working so we could not do that. To stay healthy and fit, I try to go for a run every day and do home workouts when I need a break from studying.

MMU: What’s the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far? How are you overcoming it?

PR: The biggest challenge so far for me is that I am home and I can not see my girlfriend. It is weird being in the same country, even same city, and just having to talk via WhatsApp and FaceTime. But, I think we are handling the situation really well.

MMU: How easily did your courses switch to the online format? What are some of the different platforms your professors are using? Does one seem to be more effective than others?

PR: I would say all of my courses switched very smoothly. For example, for my constitutional law class, the professor is using the platform, Zoom, which makes it really easy to communicate with each other and it feels like we are having a face to face conversation. Other professors use Brightspace which is also a platform I am used to. The only drawback I see with the online learning is that when I am at home, I am always seven hours ahead. Therefore, when I have the Zoom conversation for my class, it is usually 9:00 p.m. and it goes till 10:20 p.m. It is sometimes hard to focus and be fully involved in the discussions, because of the time difference and tiredness.

MMU: How has your job been affected? How has this impacted you?

PR: Working in ACE is really something I am passionate about and I enjoyed working with my students as a peer academic coach, as well as to support and help students during the tutoring sessions for business and finance. COVID- 19 really impacted my work, because we have to do everything via Skype or email now. I am really lucky that there is such a great team working in ACE who put in so much effort to make the transition to online coaching and tutoring very smooth.

MMU: How has this affected you as a student-athlete? What do you do so that you can stay active?

PR: As I said earlier, to stay active I am trying to go for a run or do home workouts. I also like to go on a walk with my dog. I am glad that both of my parents are healthy, so most of the time they join me on the bike when I go for a run.

MMU: What do you do to pass the time? What one of your hobbies that you’re now able to invest more time in?

PR: To pass time, I am calling my grandparents every other day to ask them if they need something like groceries or medicine. One of the hobbies I can invest more time in now is cooking. I am really passionate when it comes to cooking. In just the short time I am at home I have tried so many different recipes already and it so fun.

MMU: What’s one message you would send to the rest of the MMU community? What helps you get through social distancing?

PR: We are all in the same boat and we have to overcome this together. Only when we all have the same mindset about the situation we can go through it.

MMU: Anything to add?

PR: Just don’t focus on yourself. Also keep in mind other people might need the help more, especially the elderly. You can help them and put a smile in their face by just asking them if you can help them (of course from a distance) with little things like shopping or carrying groceries.