An international student at the University of Minnesota has been stuck in Costa Rica since she went home for spring break in March. Here's how she's working on her acting major via Zoom.
When she left Minnesota to spend spring break back home in Costa Rica, Isabella Condo-Olvera, 20, didn't pack properly.
"I packed a half an hour before I went to the airport because I stayed up with my friends, which I'm grateful for now because it ended up being my final night in my dorm," Condo-Olvera told Business Insider in a recent video call.
Condo-Olvera thought she'd be back at the University of Minnesota, where she is a sophomore studying acting, just a week later. But when the coronavirus pandemic began to spread across the world, she got stuck in her home country for the remainder of the semester and the summer.
Now, Condo-Olvera is two weeks into the fall semester — and she's taking all her classes from her parents' homes in Costa Rica. She said the university stored her belongings in a storage unit until the first day of fall classes.
"I hired a moving company to move my things from the storage unit to my off-campus apartment, which I'm paying the lease for," she added.
In an email to Insider, Caitlin Hurley, a Public Relations Strategist at the University of Minnesota, said students were not required to move their belongings from storage units on the first day of classes. The spaces, Hurley said, are available until November 7.
In the same message, Hurley explained that many faculty members have completed a five- or nine-week online course to help with the transition from in-person to online learning. On top of that, the university developed a website to guide students through the shift to remote learning.
Here's how Condo-Olvera is balancing her new schedule.
Condo-Olvera goes back and forth between her mom's house and her dad's every two weeks.
Isabella Condo-Olvera and her parents.
Courtesy of Isabella Condo
"At my dad's house, I'm living with my two brothers. One of them is 16 and the other is seven," Condo-Olvera said. Condo-Olvera's father and stepmother also live in the house.
When she's living at her mom's, Condo-Olvera says her days are "significantly more chill."
"It's just my mom and me, which is nice," she told Business Insider. "It's a good balance."
Condo-Olvera's mother lives in Escazu, San Jose, and her father lives about three hours away by car.
The road between Condo-Olvera's parents' houses.
Courtesy of Isabella Condo
Condo-Olvera describes her environment at her dad's as isolated and spacious. "It's really nice because I'm surrounded by nature," she said.
Here's what Condo-Olvera's days are like when she works from her father's home.
Condo-Olvera's father works at an agricultural university and lives in a house on campus. It's full of wildlife, she says.
A photo of a sloth on campus taken by Condo-Olvera's dad.
Courtesy of Arturo Condo
Condo-Olvera's dad is the president of Earth University in Guacimo, Limon. Wild animals roam the school grounds.
"Monkeys are very common," she told Business Insider, "and I know my dad saw a sloth the other day."
Condo-Olvera said if she had the energy in the mornings, she'd walk around the campus because it's so beautiful. "Sometimes just for a moment I'll step out and listen," she added. "The monkeys are super loud."
This is Condo-Olvera's schedule. She takes nine classes, plus rehearsal every weeknight and on Saturdays.
This is Condo-Olvera's weekly schedule.
Courtesy of Isabella Condo
Classes start at 10 a.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays, and 8 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Condo-Olvera wakes up at 6 a.m. on weekdays. The first thing she does is check her phone.
Condo-Olvera in her bedroom.
Courtesy of Isabella Condo
Being in Costa Rica means Condo-Olvera's schedule is an hour behind her classmates in Minnesota. She prefers it that way, she says.
After getting up, she heads to the patio for some morning yoga.
Condo-Olvera does yoga outside.
Courtesy of Isabella Condo
Sometimes she swaps out yoga for other light exercises to get her body moving before starting the day.
Condo-Olvera eats eggs in the morning when her stepmother cooks.
Condo-Olvera's breakfast on a weekday morning.
Courtesy of Isabella Condo
"I'm usually too lazy to make eggs myself unless I'm really craving them," she said. "Sometimes I have tortillas with cheese too."
Her theater history course begins at 10 a.m on Monday and Wednesday.
Condo-Olvera attends class.
Courtesy of Isabella Condo
Condo-Olvera said she takes most of her classes in this office at her dad's because it's the room with the best internet connection.
At her mom's, Condo-Olvera studies in her bedroom.
In this class, Condo-Olvera performs sonnets to classmates over Zoom. This means she selects another student to look at while performing. "It's so strange," she said.
Condo-Olvera practices performing her sonnet before class.
Courtesy of Isabella Condo
Condo-Olvera says that when she attended class in person, students still selected another individual to perform sonnets to, but they would stand farther apart.
"Now you see their face more clearly because we have to be sitting close to the computer," she added.
On Tuesdays and Thursdays, Condo-Olvera has a class devoted to stage combat. She uses a stick as a prop.
Condo-Olvera participates in her online stage combat class.
Courtesy of Isabella Condo
Condo-Olvera participates in stage combat outdoors, "so I'm not worried about hitting the walls or breaking anything," she told Business Insider.
In between classes, Condo-Olvera has 15-minute breaks, which she uses to get a snack like fruit.
Condo-Olvera snacks between classes.
Courtesy of Isabella Condo
Condo-Olvera only has time for lunch twice a week because of her packed course schedule.
In the afternoons, Condo-Olvera has voice classes, where students learn to speak in various accents.
Condo-Olvera at her work station.
Courtesy of Isabella Condo
Condo-Olvera said that some of her assignments for this remote class will be videos rather than live performances.
Taking courses over Zoom isn't easy for Condo-Olvera.
"I'm still trying to figure it out, frankly, it's a lot of hours staring at a screen and trying to be present," she told Business Insider.
Condo-Olvera added that she combats Zoom fatigue with frequent screen breaks.
Also in the afternoons, Condo-Olvera takes an acting class. This, she said, is where some of the biggest differences between virtual and in-person coursework come into play.
Condo-Olvera's work station at her dad's house.
Courtesy of Isabella Condo
"Having to be resourceful and creative with the changing circumstances definitely exercises your creativity and flexibility as an actor," Condo-Olvera said of rehearsing and performing over Zoom.
At 6 p.m. on weeknights, Condo-Olvera has rehearsal for a play she will star in over Zoom.
Sometimes Condo-Olvera plays piano in rehearsal.
Courtesy of Isabella Condo
"It's going to be the first time we do something as a company to present to the public in a very weird way," Condo-Olvera said of the school's rendition of "Appropriate" by Brandon Jacob Jenkins.
Most of the play takes place in a house, she told Business Insider, so she's not concerned about adapting her setting for the occasion.
"We make do and try to be creative within the circumstances," she added.
After rehearsal, Condo-Olvera has dinner with her family and then reads to her little brother.
Condo-Olvera reads from her phone.
Courtesy of Isabella Condo
"My seven-year-old brother is scared of the dark," Condo-Olvera told Business Insider, "so he sleeps with me many nights and I've been reading Harry Potter books to him."
She reads the book from her phone and uses the opportunity to practice her accents for voice class.
"It's really nice bonding time," she added, noting that spending so much time with her family is a perk of being home.
After her brother goes to sleep, Condo-Olvera gets some rest herself.
Condo-Olvera in her bedroom.
Courtesy of Isabella Condo
Condo-Olvera doesn't know when she'll be able to go back to Minnesota.
"I want to be back as soon as possible," she said, "but I'm happy to avoid at least a little of the winter."
Condo-Olvera misses her theater community and independence more than anything, she says.
"Being able to hug my friends, my teachers, work on scenes in person — there is such a beautiful and intimate aspect of sharing a space in person that we're trying to replicate on Zoom, and that everyone is really doing their best with," Condo-Olvera told Business Insider. "But it'll never be the same."
