BLOG: Daydreaming of a return to normal
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Was I dreaming? Was it all mere imagination?
Are Michigan State University students really back on campus?
It seemed surreal. Last week, I was driving from the clinic on South Hagadorn Road to Mount Hope Round on the way to McLaren Hospital for rounding. After passing the traffic light on Harrison Road, I saw a scene which seemed like a daydream: Parking lot #89 was full of brand-new SUVs of various colors. Hundreds of them, filling the parking lot! This is one of numerous parking lots on MSU campus; this particular parking lot is dedicated mostly for students who live in the dorms. MSU, being one of the largest and first land grant universities in the nation, has a vast area occupying most of East Lansing city area. Students from out of town park their cars on this lot and then take the shuttle to go to their dorms. Some may ride their bikes or scooters.
On a typical day, driving around campus would be difficult with a large mass of students filling the streets, the walkways and the pavements mixed with bikes, cars and scooters.
But that was before COVID-19 hit.
In my first post about the pandemic, in March 2020, I wrote about how the streets and MSU campus were eerily empty.
Now, seemingly all of a sudden, the vast vacant students’ parking lot is miraculously full of brand-new SUVs.
Certainly, I was preoccupied with so many thoughts, as usual, so I did not fully process the scene at the time. My mind was focused on a patient, who presented our endocrine team, attendings and fellows with the most challenging case of hypoglycemia we had seen. On average, it would take us 2 to 3 days to figure out the most difficult cases, from insulinoma to non-insulinoma pancreatogenous hypoglycemia syndrome, factitious, medication-induced, etc. But not this case.
But I digress.
As I continued to drive past lot #89 toward McLaren Hospital, I asked myself why I did not hear about students returning to campus. Surely, that would be big news locally.
Then, if the students are back on campus, why do they all have brand new SUVs?
I came to know why.
GM leased the parking lot from MSU to park partially finished SUVs (Figure).
The news broke out both in MSU internal communications, as well as in the Lansing State Journal.
So, no, the students are not back to campus, and I am not sure when they will be back.
These are not students’ cars. Of course, I should have known better. Why would all MSU students return to campus in brand new SUVs?
I have missed the students. I miss the liveliness of the vast MSU campus, with its great landscapes and scenery!
Now, the campus is like a deserted town. Kind of like a déjà vu from one of those scary movies!
Though on a selfish note, I do not deny one advantage: The ease of driving around campus, which I have been enjoying since the pandemic hit.
Don’t get me wrong, I am a die-hard Spartan. I love MSU, I work at MSU, and all four of my children graduated from MSU.
But enjoying the temporary quiet on campus is the irony that this pandemic has brought on us.
Collapse