Due to the extensive amount of time we have been forced to spend at home, the COVID-19 pandemic has encouraged us to pick up hobbies we may have been wanting to try but could never previously pursue. Loyola Marymount University (LMU) students Austin Reyes, Isabella Dropsy, and Katarina Compean (the author of the article) have all discovered their newfound hobbies amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
Austin Reyes, 23, moved to his parents home located in Irvine, California for the majority of the pandemic. Reyes says he has always had a great interest in architecture and home design but never had the chance to have a real hands-on experience with both interests due to a busy school and internship schedule. During the pandemic, Reyes noticed that some parts of his childhood house were rundown. He took the initiative to start renovating his parents’ home as a “thank you gift”for letting him live there for most of the pandemic. Reyes claims that his COVID-19 restoration hobby has sparked a greater interest for him in pursuing home design as a career.
Additionally, “I have always had an eye for design. My friends and even my parents have even come to me throughout the years asking for my opinion on style choices within their homes. This is an interest of mine that always has been lingering in the back of my head and to be honest Covid gave me the push I needed that I really would have never given myself,” said Reyes.
Reyes has initiated the first step toward having his own home design brand named Reyes Designs.







Isabella Dropsy, 22, also moved home from Los Angeles to Newport Beach, California during the extent of the pandemic. Dropsy is a senior graphic design major at LMU and has always had a passion for the arts, specifically painting and fashion. When Dropsy was a sophomore at LMU she began sketching and drawing graphic designs for clothing but never took it to the next level. When the pandemic hit, Dropsy found her old sewing machine and began sketching and sewing her new clothing brand she titled Dropsy.
“I kind of already knew that creating was my purpose in life. It was just a matter of what am I going to create that represents me and my passion the most. Whether it was a matter of painting, drawing, creating clothes or designing for brands I feel I was put on this earth to create and my brand and Dropsy is the best representation of my passion for art and fashion so far,”says Dropsy. Dropsy, 21 launched her clothing brand in summer 2021 and it is now available for purchase on her website. She says,“Dropsy clothing brand is something literally anyone can wear. It’s a gender neutral clothing line of simple graphic t-shirts that fit every body size. The designs on the shirt are authentically designed by me and I am very proud of my work to see where it takes me.”



COVID-19 has given me the chance to explore my passion for cooking. I have always loved cooking and have shown great interest in it. However, before COVID-19 my rigorous school schedule, along with my part time jobs, did not not allow much time for cooking. COVID-19 Fast forward to now, I am officially moving to New York City to attend culinary school this upcoming Spring! Without the pandemic, I am not sure that I would have pursued culinary arts as a career. The pandemic gave me the time I needed to strengthen my skills in the kitchen and made me realize that cooking was the career path I wanted to pursue.



