Quarantined Student Documents Campus Life At Princeton University

PRINCETON, NJ — An international student quarantined on Princeton University's campus since the coronavirus outbreak has been documenting life through photos — giving true meaning to the phrase, "a picture is worth a thousand words."

Jeongmin Cho, a current junior from Seoul, South Korea was studying computer science at Princeton when the coronavirus hit.

In March, Cho and his family decided he should stay on campus because South Korea was one of the most-affected countries by the coronavirus. As things got worse in the U.S. and the government began tightening immigration policies and issuing travel bans, Cho said he decided to remain on campus in case there's a problem with his visa when he needs to re-enter for his summer job.

"The solitude of living on campus away from my family and friends was initially quite tough to deal with. I could go days without talking to anyone if I didn't make the active effort since most of my classes were recorded or live-streamed over Zoom, Cho said. "But other than that, the university has been feeding us and housing us, which is something I'm really grateful for in these times. This could have been a lot worse if I had nowhere to go."

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When all of Cho's friends left campus and classes were suspended during that first week in March, he felt a bit lost because he suddenly had nothing to do.

"Then I saw that the empty campus was a bit of a mess after the move-out, which I found really interesting. So I began taking photos to share with my close friends, then one thing led to another, and I've just been documenting life on campus ever since. It's been fascinating to capture how people adapt to these times," Cho said.

Now about three months in Cho said he'e gotten more used to this life and tries to call his family and friends more often to check-in.

"I try to stay optimistic that things will be back to normal by the fall," Cho said. "The weather has been quite nice lately, but it would have been nice to have some more friends to enjoy it with in person."

To follow Cho's photo documentary visit instagram.com/lonelycovidtiger.

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