My AVATARS Program Experience

Author: Nel Pedroso
Posted on January 19, 2021

In the duration of my COVID summer, I isolated three times, so six weeks’ worth of quarantine in total. Yeah, I consider myself as an isolation survivor...Having said that, when I returned on campus to isolate again, it was much more challenging than I expected. Previously, I had the luxury of isolating in the comfort of my own place, where there was an ample amount of space for me just to relax. It was a different experience doing so in residence, where you are in a tight, confined space (outdoor hours were the highlight of my isolation period). The bottom line was that every out-of-province student did it successfully to ensure everyone’s safety and the AVATARS program was one tool that helped me during my isolation! At first, I just signed up because I had no better things to do. After several days, I got a notification from the Ten Thousand Coffees platform that I was paired with an alumni (not going to lie, but I was scared for no reason lol). It turns out that after a few chat exchanges that we had a lot in common! We then decided to do a virtual call where we just talked about our experiences during our stay in Mount Allison. Funny enough, we also stayed in the same residence during our respective first years. Despite completing my isolation, we still keep in touch through messages and packages. We decided to do monthly random care packages, and I just received mine last week! Overall, I am amazed at how supportive the Mount Allison alumni and community wherever they may be!

Photo: Cheesin' through my first week of classes because I got some self-care munchies!