Air-conditioning is essential when living with your parents in Florida and I did not have a proper working air conditioning unit when campus switched to online this winter semester. It was not until the week of finals that I was finally able to have AC for the whole day. If these weren’t quarantine days, I would’ve been able to do my homework at the public library. However, shortly after the campus closed, the rest of my city did as well. Public libraries, restaurants and other services all shut at once. Not wanting to get infected, I stuck to the social distancing requirements, forced to learn in an environment with extreme heat.
It was hard, but not impossible. My air-conditioning system is old, so it would break if we left it on the whole day. Fortunately, the AC would work at night. It was only during the day that the heat would be too much. Specifically, around 5-7 p.m. as the sun would shine directly into the windows after hours of no AC. These would be the required hours for my back-to-back courses on Zoom.
It’s hard to concentrate when you are sweating. There were times when I would think about the heat and not the equation my professor was explaining. I did a few things to make the situation better, like taking cold showers after my Zoom classes, which kept me cool for the last hour until we turned on the air conditioning for the night, and eating cold foods or drinking cold water. This would be a nice relief while I was on Zoom calls for my courses. When the heat got to be too much, these are the things that got me through it.
The real solution would be getting a new AC unit, but that was not an option for us. AC units go from $4,000-$6,000, which was too much money to pay for. It was not until my parents received the stimulus check that we were able to buy a new unit. Fortunately, in the last week of online classes, I was able to take finals with working AC for the whole day. I was able to complete my semester with passing grades, especially because I had AC during my finals.
Having no AC and no permanent solution for weeks was a challenge I overcame when classes switched to online, teaching me that h proper air-conditioning is essential when living in South Florida.
* Story from an NSU Shark
Photo: V. Nikonov
