For months now, current and incoming students at the University of Oklahoma have had a variety of mixed feelings, worries, and thoughts for this fall. Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, the future has never been more unclear and incomprehensible, especially for colleges, like OU. Since March, the University's staff has worked diligently to better understand the threat of the coronavirus and implement plans, restrictions, models, and more in an effort to ensure the student body's presence on campus come August. Despite all of these changes that are expected to keep the OU family safe and healthy, every Sooner has had one question on their minds: "Do I feel safe going/returning to campus in the fall?"

Personally, I feel safe going to campus in August because of the strides OU has made in enforcing rules such as mandatory masking, in-person classes being limited to a 40-person capacity, and more. With these plans, I feel safe knowing that I won't be in large group settings and that the likelihood of exposure will be lower as masks are required. In addition, with how big the campus is, many classes being moved online, and with the 30-minute window between each class, I feel safe knowing that I won't be walking along the South Oval with as many people as I would without the rules in place. Above all of this, the university's staff has made me feel more comfortable about being on campus in August as they have proven how much they care about the health and safety of the OU family. To me, I feel like the university has put more students and families at ease with how confident they are that all of the rules for this fall will help prevent the coronavirus spread. Though the results of these plans won't be able to be noticed until August, I anticipate that the university already putting these regulations in place will motivate the OU family more to do their part in fighting this virus so the OU experience can go back to normal as quickly as possible.

Because of how foggy the future looks right now, I still worry about what this fall could look like, just like every other Sooner. I, too, have worried about the safety of not only myself but the OU family. To combat this worry, I believe that each OU student needs to ask themselves, "What can I do to feel safer and ensure those around me are safe?" Whether that be through wearing masks in public, only traveling for essential purposes, or maintaining six feet from others, we all can do something to keep ourselves healthy and protect the health of those we will be around in two months. The more that we all dwell on and prioritize that question, the safer and better we will all be this fall.