People of Central – Casey Boyles

Story by Danielle Patrick

Photo courtesy of Natalie Koeller

With the spread of COVID-19 worldwide, Central Michigan University students never would have guessed that they would be spending the rest of the semester at home doing their classes online. It’s important to realize that whether you lived on or off-campus, the change for the semester effects everyone in different way.

CMU fifth-year senior Casey Boyles is majoring in recreation parks and leisure service administration with a concentration in event management. She’s double minoring in leadership and hospitality.  Boyles shares her thoughts on what it’s like being at home instead of living in the dorms.

“It sucks being at home because at first we were told the dorms wouldn’t be open until March 22. Then we were told that the dorms wouldn’t be open until April 5,” Boyles said. “Now, we are stuck on lockdown for about three weeks and half of my belongings are still in my dorm.”

Boyles is thankful for staying at home because she felt that if she still lived in the dorms, she would put herself more at risk of getting the virus if she went outside to get a meal from the residence hall diner. Being at home with her dog keeps her happy, despite what is going on in the world.

At the same time, Boyles does miss the campus life and her friends. She hopes that everyone is staying positive and healthy.

To keep Boyles busy during quarantine, she makes TikToks.

“TikTok is one of the only things that makes me happy because at school, I had a collection of movies to watch, but I don’t have them with me right now,” Boyles said.

About a year ago, Boyles discovered Tik- Tok and she has been making videos ever since. Thankfully, Boyles’ professors have been lenient on their students during this crisis. This gives Boyles more time to make everyone happy on TikTok.

“One of my favorite TikToks that I made was during Christmas break where I made a weird cinnamon drink and I tried it. I made a weird facial expression at the end and it got 1.3 million views,” Boyles said.

People may wonder, how is Boyles always positive? When Boyles was two, she went through chemotherapy for a brain tumor, which now effects her eyesight. That moment in her life has given her many obstacles that she had to face.

“I got made fun of and teased. It has made me a better person in a sense that I know how much it sucks to get made fun of,” Boyles said.

At the end of quarantine, Boyles hopes to become the TikTok queen and maybe she can even plan an event for CMU students to get together and celebrate that the pandemic is over.