University at Buffalo School of Management

10 Buffalo Business Autumn 2020 O V E R C O M I N G A D V E R S I T Y W I T H R E S I L I E N C E A N D D E T E R M I N A T I O N Evan Spector knew he had a full plate heading into the spring 2020 semester. A dual-degree student, Spector was taking a total of 23 credits—17 for his MBA and six for his BS in industrial engineering. What he didn't know was that when he le campus for spring break, he wouldn't be returning for classes. Instead, COVID-19 would send the world into disar- ray, and Spector—along with the rest of the UB student body and most of the world—would stay home for the foreseeable future. For Spector, that meant sharing space with his family of five. The basement became his classroom, while upstairs, his mom led classes online for her elementary school students. His dad continued to go to work as a security guard, and his brother and sister became study- at-home college students, too. "It's challenging because there are a lot of distrac- tions and you can't just go to the library for a quiet space," says Spector. "You can always hear what's going on around the house." With New York City the epicenter of the outbreak in the U.S. and Spector's family living on Long Island, the coronavirus hit their home. His mother and sister both tested positive for COVID-19, and everyone except his father tested positive for the antibodies. "I showed symptoms," he says. "I had a fever and wanted to sleep all day, but that only lasted for a couple days." Eventually, everyone recovered, and Spector finished the semester with a 3.7 GPA for his MBA and a 3.8 in engineering. He even landed a summer internship with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Throughout the School of Management, the pandemic upended the lives of students like Spector, all of whom persevered through personal, professional and academic challenges. A ray of light For Varun Kumar Chowdhry, MD, a student in the School of Management's Professional MBA program, it wasn't a surprise when classes went online. That's because he'd been following the spread of the disease in his role as assistant professor of oncology at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. Married with a 6-month-old son, Chowdhry quickly became concerned for the wellness of his family. His wife, Shilpa Mukunda Chowdhry, MD, is a geriatrics fellow in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at UB, and both are essential workers. "It was scary with all of the uncertainty, especially in the early days," says Chowdhry. "We transitioned a portion of our practice to telemedicine to minimize exposure, but our offices remained open for patients who needed essential cancer care." Luckily everyone in the family has been healthy so far—and because the PMBA program is a hybrid format IN THE FACE OF ADVERSITY The student experience during COVID-19 By Kevin Manne Spector studies in the basement of his family home amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

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