By Hayeon Lee ’23
As coronavirus has moved us all back home, here are some updates from current Pomona first-year students and how they have been coping during these unprecedented times!
Alyssa Zhang ‘23
Alyssa Zhang is a rising sophomore at Pomona College. She is from Buffalo Grove, (Chicago-area), IL and is currently undecided about her major. Alyssa is interested in International Relations and Art, and her favorite place to study is Harwood lounge. (The Honnold/Mudd Library is a close second).
How have you been keeping yourself busy?
I have been doing the Chloe Ting Shred Program and have been watching healthy food videos. Keeping active and healthy has been keeping me sane and happy. Like everyone else, I have started to learn how to cook. However, I’m really bad at cooking, and I’m not sure if my family appreciates all of the burnt food and pans. I’ve also been taking daily walks and have been practicing skateboarding and trying out new skateboarding tricks.
What is the thing you miss most about Pomona?
Just being able to see everybody in person. I miss the anime-watching sessions with my friends, having study dates, grabbing meals with my friends, and just being able to go places freely.
What is the food at Claremont you miss most?
I mean, I love the food at the 5Cs. If I had to list a few: chicken tenders, waffles, pancakes, CMC and Scripps brunch, chicken and waffles, CMC thick- crust, pepperoni pizza, CMC burgers, tater tots – oh god, this is making me hungry.
Carlos Furukawa ‘23
Carlos Furukawa is a rising sophomore at Pomona College. He is from Kaneohe, HI and is interested in becoming a Biology major. His favorite place to study is the 5C library, Honnold/Mudd.
How have you been keeping yourself busy?
I’ve just been working in the garden I have at home. I have been spending a lot of time distracting myself by planting vegetables. I’ve been talking to friends on Facetime, playing a lot of video games, and working out. Overall, I’m itching to get back; Pomona has become a home away from home for me.
What is the thing you miss most about Pomona?
I miss living in a community, being able to go outside, and hang out with my friends on the weekends. I think in this time, I realize how important certain people are to me and how I value routine and an active lifestyle.
What is the food at Claremont you miss most?
Easy answer: Pho at the Hoch.
Andrew Seay ‘23
Andrew Seay is a rising sophomore at Pomona College. He is from Bentonville, AR and is interested in becoming an Econ major and Math minor. His favorite place to study at Pomona is in his room.
How have you been keeping yourself busy?
It’s really been just random things that I find myself working on. My brother and I are close, so we have been building computers. I also have a lot of farm work; we made a bunch of beehives because our last bee colony didn’t work out. I do a lot of hiking and, like everyone, I’ve been playing video games.
What is the thing you miss most about Pomona?
I really miss friends and the freedom that I had at college. I also really miss city life and Southern California, and I’m a big surfer so I’ve been wanting to go surfing with my friends. We don’t have beaches, and California weather is just beautiful. I miss Pomona.
What is the food at Claremont you miss most?
Poke Bowls.
Rohan Ahammed ‘23
Rohan Ahammed is a rising sophomore at Pomona College. He is from New York City and is a tentative PPE major. His favorite place to study is in his dorm room.
How have you been keeping yourself busy?
Every day, I go on an hour-long walk, listen to some music, but most of the day, I’ve been video gaming. Classes have been keeping me busy, and I have also been cooking a lot: some stir fry, cabbage, orange chicken, pasta, and the list goes on.
What is the thing you miss most about Pomona?
I just really miss the people because people are the special part of Pomona. Online classes are okay, but I miss being able to do problem sets in person and working with people in person. I also miss my friends and just hanging out, catching up, and getting dinner. Even if I’m not close to everyone, I just miss seeing friendly faces. The best part about the Pomona experience is closeness to everyone.
What is the food at Claremont you miss most?
I miss the dining hall and the desserts in general. Frary and Frank have this Oreo parfait dessert–funny story, my friend and I had a huge fight over who got the last one! Outside of the dining hall, I miss T & Joy [shop in the Claremont Village] and desserts from Some Crust Bakery.