143 Dealing with College During Covid

This Final Project is intended to help incoming freshman adjust to college life by either giving them life lesson, aiding them with everyday tasks, or simply just describing how you go through your first year. For this project I chose to detail how students and I are dealing with this Covid-19 pandemic. I decided to ask some newfound friends of mine a couple of questions about their experiences. During this process unfortunately I tested positive for Covid-19 as well as a few other students that year. I will be describing how I got through and how I still managed to catch up during this 8-week learning period.

I decided to grab a couple of friends and interview them and ask how they have dealt with the pandemic while adjusting to college life. Here listed is some of the questions I asked them;

1. How have you dealt with this fast-paced year of schooling? (the change from 16week period to 8-week period)
2. Could you tell me your opinion on face masks?
3. How do you still find friends and learned to be social while social distancing?
4. Do you feel homesick? Have you struggled with not visiting home on the weekends?
5. Do you find yourself cleaning a lot more often than before Covid-19? (Washing hands, sanitizer, use of surface cleaners, etc.)
6. Do you have any words of advice if (God forbid) this pandemic is still in affect by next year?

This is the video of the 7 people I chose to interview, 3 of which would like to remain anonymous. The other 4 that I interviewed are in order from, Michael Underwood, Gabby Blankenship, Maddie Clinkscales, Casey, and the three after this are anonymous.

I unfortunately tested positive for Covid-19 the 18th of September. This came with a lot of difficult hardships my first 8 weeks of College. Everyone that I had been around, most of my friends, ended up quarantined for being in contact with me. I was quarantined in a completely different dorm because my regular dorm room in Condit Hall has public bathrooms. Not only was I devastated the day I found out I was positive I also struggled with the symptoms I had developed. I had no sense of smell and as of this day still have not gained this back. I also had extreme fatigued, for most of my quarantine I did nothing but sleep. I had no appetite and still do not feel like eating much of anything and the entire Covid experience was pretty draining on me physically and mentally.

Because of this event in my life, I fell behind in my studies for about a week a half. Though this may not seem like a lot of time for someone to be behind, it was very challenging for me because the college changed to an 8-week semester and I was near the end of this 8 weeks. There was so much material for me to catch up when I came out of quarantine and honestly it really stressed me out. Luckily, I talked with my professors and my boss for work and they were very lenient with me about catching up. I am very thankful to this day that they were patient because that gave me a lot of time to sit down and learn my material before finals week.

What I am getting at is that despite going through such a hard time, I got through this with persistence and communication. Talk to your professors and work out your issues, they are more than willing to help you succeeded and learn what they are teaching. Make sure you are staying safe and know that if you do get Covid that it’s not your fault, you can overcome it, and rest.