Editor’s note: This is part of a contributed collection of students and faculty experience with COVID-19.

It takes many moving parts and heaps of hard work to put together an event for students, and Memorial Union Program Coordinator Katie Haygood managed to continue working, business as usual, remotely from her home.

Haygood advises the student organizations who put on ISU AfterDark, Dance Marathon, WinterFest and the Student Union Board. With events indefinitely canceled, Haygood said she has been working from home and meeting with her student organizations remotely to program for the fall.

Haygood said some of these student organizations are trying to figure out how to do virtual events and how to engage students from afar. She said they are actively planning for the fall, as if everything will go back to normal.

“I feel like I’ve kind of gone through all the seasons of grief,” Haygood said. “Obviously really upset that events are canceled and then you go through the selfish phase of ‘Why am I upset when we’re literally in a global pandemic and my event isn’t the whole world.’”

Haygood said she spent months working with her students to prepare for their upcoming events and to have it all gone in an instant was frustrating. Now, she said she feels content and ready to move toward the future during this new “normal.”

“We’re looking into AfterDark entertainment, we’re moving forward with tailgate for Dance Marathon, we’re looking for all those things,” Haygood said. “[It’s] the same things I would be doing in a normal day, just from home.”

As far as planning remote activities for students, Haygood said they are still in the planning stages. Haygood said that a virtual bingo night was declined due to the gambling permit process, but ideas are still running rampant. One of their plans is a TikTok dance competition for students to compete in from their homes.

“All the planning is in very, very early stages, but we are actively planning for the fall,” Haygood said.