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With No Dorm To Live In, Student Trades Cal State LA For The Army

By Adolfo Guzman-Lopez
Published May 1, 2020 7:00 AM
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Adam Sanchez walks through the Cal State Los Angeles campus weeks after classes where moved online. His experience at the school and COVID-19 have radically changed his career path. (Chava Sanchez/LAist)
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Like all 23 California State University campuses, Cal State LA asked students to vacate its dorms when the coronavirus shutdown happened in March.

Most went back home. Some, like freshman Adam Sanchez, didn't have that option.

Even though he grew up less than two miles away in El Sereno, the campus felt a world away. He told us:

“I think that living in the dorms helped me a lot in getting through the first semester. Because at home, I don't have access to the internet.”

And no internet at home means no access to the online classes that have replaced in-person instruction during the coronavirus outbreak.
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Exceptions were made for international students and foster youth, but Sanchez is neither. With no options left, he's dropping out and enlisting in the Army. He reports for duty on May 17.

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