A Year of Distance with Allie Holt

Allie Holt with her 4-year-old Golden Retriever, Leia. “I don’t know if you can tell, but I love Star Wars,” said Holt. Allie Holt.

My Zoom call with Allie Holt is put on a brief pause as her Golden Retriever dog, Leia, makes her appearance on camera. Holt laughs as the pup stands unbothered between her and the screen, but quickly redirects her attention to the window that Holt opens next to her bed. Leia retreats to stick her nose out the window as her owner and I resume our conversation.

Allie Holt is a junior at the University of Oregon majoring in Journalism and minoring in Creative Writing. Her childhood passion for reading and writing stories has influenced her school career just as much as her future goals, which includes starting up her own women-led magazine, and writing at least one novel before she turns 30. Other than that, she’s going with the flow and seeing where the future takes her. Like many of us, Holt’s focus has primarily been on the present reality of living through a worldwide pandemic.

Q: What kind of hobbies do you have outside of school right now, or do your hobbies bleed into work/school?

Hobbies that I’m doing right now would be taking Leia on walks as much as I can when I’m feeling good, playing Animal Crossing a lot on my Switch and — I know how this is gonna sound — but Fortnite. If you give it a chance, it’s not as bad it was way back then, so I’ve been playing that a lot with my roommates and boyfriend.

My roommates and I are also binge-watching all the Marvel movies in chronological order, which is fun to do since we’ve already seen them. But, yeah. Lots of movies, lots of TV shows… Honestly I don’t do that much anymore because of COVID. There’s not a lot that I can do. I just got a new job, though, at this escape room place, which is cool. So, I guess that’s a new hobby because you get paid to play games, so it’s fun.

Q: How long have you been in Eugene?

Basically my entire school career, I guess. The last time I went home was around election time, and that was very stressful because there were some family members that voted for someone that was not, you know, cool. That was very stressful, and also just because of COVID. Half of my family members take it seriously, and half of them don’t, and I’m just not gonna put myself in that situation.

So yeah, I’ve just been in Eugene the whole time living with my three roommates and my dog. It’s been very fun. It’s a much better vibe, especially because I value my independence. I need to have my own space to be sane.

Q: What has your experience during the pandemic been like? Has anything in particular significantly changed? What aspects are different?

Last year at the beginning of it I was really, really anxious. Sometimes, I still get anxious when I have to go to the grocery store now, and I feel like there’s people breathing down my neck, and I’m like, “Get away!”

But, I feel like that anxiety has gotten a little better as, you know, once I get vaccinated I’ll feel more comfortable. I just think that it’s been very stressful since I have migraines and looking at a computer screen every day for a very long time is very tiring.

I also just miss going to the movies, and I miss being able to go out and do whatever without being afraid if I’m gonna get sick or if I’ll get someone sick by accident.

I’m very cautious, I guess, and I’m just trying to take care of my health instead of jeopardizing somebody else’s or my own. It’s been very stressful, but I think it’s been kind of needed because I’ve been able to discover my own needs.

Q: You’ve kind of already spoken about this before, but what other ways have you found to help cope with this “new normal,” as annoying as that phrase is?

To help handle it, I spend a lot of time with my boyfriend, and we either play Scrabble like we’re 85 years old, or we’ll play on our Switches, or we’ll just talk and goof off, or I’ll go into one of my friends’ rooms and be like, “What are you doing? Do you wanna hang out?”

I mainly just talk to my tight-knit circle of friends, and I try to talk to them every day so I don’t put myself in that funk where I’m missing human interaction.

I also just can’t picture how my life was like before COVID, because it’s just like, did I really do all that? It’s weird. It’s definitely changed.

Q: Feeding into that, do you think we’ll ever be able to go back to any sort of normal? What is “normal” anymore?

I think if it was to be no masks and full capacity, I don’t think that’s gonna be around for another two years, to be honest. Like, I’m one of those people that always thinks about the long term and hates taking things day by day. I want a scheduled plan of what’s going on so I can prepare and revolve my life around that. I don’t even think I’m gonna want to go to a wedding or a concert for at least two years when there's herd immunity and we get rid of the new variants and stuff.

Obviously I’m not a scientist, so I don’t have a definitive answer if I can see it being normal, but I don’t see things being normal until about 2023, and it sucks. It’s just a gray area.

Q: On a slightly lighter note, have you found some sort of hope from all of this, like something to look forward to in the end? I know how important that is to focus on right now.

I guess I’m glad that I have stronger relationships with my friends who I see every day right now. I feel like if me and my boyfriend can get through COVID, then we can get through anything.

And, I know this sounds silly, and I haven’t been there in a few years, but I really miss Disneyland. I want to be able to go there when it’s not dangerous and just vibe and have a good time. That’s what I want to do personally.

And the movies, too! Like, the Black Widow movie comes out in July and I might go out and see that if I feel comfortable enough. I don’t like interacting with strangers, but I like when you’re in a group of people and you can enjoy something together like that. I think that’s cool.