Melbourne, Australia (WSIL) -- SIU football punter Jack Colquhoun is a native of Melbourne, Australia. With all of the concern with the coronavirus and classes at SIU moved online for the rest of the semester, Colquhoun headed back to Australia to be with his family.
"I feel safer being around my family during this time," said Colquhoun. "Everything is clouded by a little uncertainty at this point. I thought it was best to be back home with my family to support them and be with them. I got the blessing from Coach P and Coach Hill to head home which I am greatly appreciated for."
Upon arrival in Australia, Colquhoun was required to spend two weeks in quarantine. He spent that time isolated in his own home. Colquhoun said he learned a few new skills while in quarantine.
"I learned how to do the Rubik's cube last week," said Colquhoun. "I spent awhile doing that and I've got it down to about two minutes now, so I'm pretty happy with that. I spent half a day trying to get a ping pong ball into a cup from about 15-20 feet away and I got that as well. Outside of that, I am still a full time student, so that has been super super busy. Because of the time difference I'm up at quarter past 1 in the morning and I have class until quarter past 4 and then I go back to sleep. But, also getting my workouts in as well. We've got a rooftop bar at home, so there is a bit of area up there for me to workout which has been good. You got to get creative in these times, so I have strapped sandbags to bar stools and all that kind of stuff to get my workout in. But the main thing I am looking forward to is just being able to kick the football again because its been two weeks since I've gotten to do any of that type of stuff. So, excited to get down to the park and kick a few balls."
Even though Colquhoun is over nine thousand miles away, he said he still feels connected to his Saluki brothers.
"A lot of the boys have been reaching out which is awesome. I'm a time zone away but I'm never too far away and the same goes for those boys. Every opportunity I can just to keep friendships close and keep cheering each other on in these times. I feel like it's a real choice here. We can kind of fall off the 8 ball or pick it up and ramp it up more than we ever have before. "
