Quarantine has been hard for everyone in different ways, but who knew that meeting Taylor Swift would be so impactful for someone during this time? Emily Then, a third-ear student at Whittier College has been greatly influenced through Taylor Swift and her music, recently got to meet Swift, an experience which has helped inspire her during the pandemic

Ferschweiler, Chelo

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Poet Commons (Whittier College)

Whittier College Poet Commons COVID-19 @ Whittier Student Scholarship & Research 10-2020 Pandemic Profiles: Emily Then Keep the Creative Juices Flowing Chelo Ferschweiler Whittier College Follow this and additional works at: https://poetcommons.whittier.edu/covid Recommended Citation Ferschweiler, C. (2020). Pandemic Profiles: Emily Then Keep the Creative Juices Flowing. The Pandemic Profiles Retrieved from https://poetcommons.whittier.edu/covid/1 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Scholarship & Research at Poet Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in COVID-19 @ Whittier by an authorized administrator of Poet Commons. For more information, please contact library@whittier.edu. 10/23/20, 1(32 PMQuarantine and Taylor Swift, how Taylor Swift has impacted Emily Then during this pandemic | POETINIS: DRINK IN THE TRUTHPage 1 of 6https://medium.com/engl-201/taylor-swift-hockey-quarantine-51c64903427aAnyone can publish on Medium per our Policies, but we don’t fact-check every story. For more info about thecoronavirus, see cdc.gov.The Pandemic Pro.lesEmily Then Keep The Creative Juices FlowingChelo Ferschweiler FollowOct 10 · 4 min readuarantine has been hard for everyone in di1erent ways, butwho knew that meeting Taylor Swift would be so impactfulfor someone during this time? Emily Then, a third-ear student atWhittier College has been greatly inAuenced through Taylor Swiftand her music, recently got to meet Swift, an experience whichhas helped inspire her during the pandemic.Then is something of amusician herself and TaylorSwift, who writes her ownmusic, has been a majorsource of inspiration forThen’s songwriting. A TumblrQ10/23/20, 1(32 PMQuarantine and Taylor Swift, how Taylor Swift has impacted Emily Then during this pandemic | POETINIS: DRINK IN THE TRUTHPage 2 of 6https://medium.com/engl-201/taylor-swift-hockey-quarantine-51c64903427aEmily Then and Taylor Swiftblog placed Then intocommunication with Swiftand that eventually this leadto Then spending a day atTaylor Swift’s house havingfriendly conversations. Notbetween a celebrity and acivilian, but as two peopleconnecting over a shared lovefor creating and writingmusic. During one of her music tours, Swift stopped to say helloto Then and ask how she has been. This encounter has beencaptured for posterity in Taylor Swift’s NetAix Documentary, MissAmericana.Shy about her work, and lacking in conJdence, Then describedhow Taylor Swift has personally helped her grow in this area.Swift took a picture with Then holding a Grammy award, sayingshe would for sure win her own someday.“Taylor Swift has helped me become morecon.dent in myself because she has showedand told me that she believes in my abilities.”10/23/20, 1(32 PMQuarantine and Taylor Swift, how Taylor Swift has impacted Emily Then during this pandemic | POETINIS: DRINK IN THE TRUTHPage 3 of 6https://medium.com/engl-201/taylor-swift-hockey-quarantine-51c64903427aDespite knowing Taylor Swift, Then does not want to becomefamous. Her desire is for what she creates to reach others andhelp them. Then said that her biggest struggle during thisquarantine is wanting to do so many things, but not taking care ofher mental health. “I can’t relax, and I can’t just sit still,” Thenexplains.Normally comfortable on her own and spending some alone timeto recharge, she has found that the knowledge of not being able toleave and go anywhere has been making it harder. This leaves heralone with her thoughts, instead of attending school at WhittierCollege with friends and peers.“The hardest part, is I know where I wouldbe right now. I would be in Los Angelesdoing an internship. I feel like I am in highschool again, not knowing where life istaking me, or where I am going.”The way Then works towards overcoming this has been throughcreativity, and various forms of art. Creating music, songs, poems,and writing short stories, Then also knows how to play the guitar,10/23/20, 1(32 PMQuarantine and Taylor Swift, how Taylor Swift has impacted Emily Then during this pandemic | POETINIS: DRINK IN THE TRUTHPage 4 of 6https://medium.com/engl-201/taylor-swift-hockey-quarantine-51c64903427apiano, and ukulele. It was in high school that she began to Jndher love for writing when she took a creative writing class.“Writing is my coping mechanism, by writing I am forced to facehow I feel,” Then says.When asked about her go-to watch for shows and movies duringquarantine, she said that she has been rewatching her comfortshow How I met Your Mother a lot, as well as Enola Holmes, andgetting more into hockey. Then has always been a fan of hockeyand been around it even when she was little. “When I used toJgure skate I would often practice in the same rink as the Sharks,”says Then. “They would get o1 the ice and I would get impatientat the Zamboni because I wanted to get out there.”The Flyers are one of Then’s favorite teams.10/23/20, 1(32 PMQuarantine and Taylor Swift, how Taylor Swift has impacted Emily Then during this pandemic | POETINIS: DRINK IN THE TRUTHPage 5 of 6https://medium.com/engl-201/taylor-swift-hockey-quarantine-51c64903427aThen’s favorite teams are the Philadelphia Flyers, New YorkIslanders, Dallas Stars, and lastly the Toronto Maple Leafs. Shesays watching sports as not always good for the anxiety as you canbecome really attached to the game, but this quarantine has givenher more time to spend watching this sport, and how she wouldlove to go to Philadelphia someday where her favorite team isbased.A hard aspect of being in quarantine is being online for her fallsemester. “I have the motivation to pay attention and learn a lot inclass. But because I work and come home really late, by the time Iget to my classes I am really tired,” says Then, of a dilemma facedby many students.Then loves to connect with others, something that has had to haltand change since March. And despite have all the classes shewanted to take this semester, quarantine has dampened herexperience a bit. Like many of us, though, Then has found ways ofadapting to this new lifestyle we all Jnd ourselves in, lettng let herinspiration, struggles, and daily life inAuence her creativity andsongwriting — which we will hopefully one day enjoy hearing asshe wins a Grammy.Taylor Swift Quarantine College Students Whittier College

Pandemic Profiles: Emily Then Keep the Creative Juices Flowing

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Pandemic Profiles: Emily Then Keep the Creative Juices Flowing

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