Students Are Living Through A Pandemic, Protests, And The Loss Of Icons And Still Trying To Get Their Degree
No doubt we are living in an unprecedented time.
As COVID-19 continues to spread across the country, the death toll has hit dramatic heights and impacted each of our lives in different ways.
One of the most uniquely impacted groups of people is university students.
Temple University
Temple University, after 212 COVID cases, finally transitioned their classes to fully virtual. And though some campuses have been hit harder than others, and some less than others, students are experiencing this very real shift in their education.
Miami University
At Miami University, there have already been over 1,000 cases recorded, even though the campus has not resumed classes in person, instead opting for online classes.
One creator had this to say about reopening:
"I know everyone wants to get back to normal life and returning back to college is one of those things that allow us to feel normal again, but there is nothing normal about the students, faculty, and families of those students and faculty members at Miami possibly getting deathly ill.
I just think as a school with the motto "Love and Honor," there's no better way of loving and honoring each other than by not putting each other at risk of getting sick."
Another student talked about the party scene happening at Miami University. On September 5, police busted a party of over 20 people.
One of the officers asked a student if it was accurate that he tested positive for COVID-19, to which he replied "yes," claiming that they all have it.
The bodycam footage tells the whole story.
Michigan State University
Whereas at Michigan State, virtual classes seem to be going better than expected, helping students learn valuable skills. One creator said, "In some cases, learning at home has actually been for the better this semester. One thing that learning at home has taught me is to have better time management."
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Students across the country have had to deal with a pandemic as they attempt to return to the classroom to get their degrees. Their life has been a mix of social distancing, wearing masks, taking virtual classes, getting tested, and still trying to be college students.
No doubt we are living in an unprecedented time. College students are not the only group of people affected by the pandemic. And the pandemic is not the only massive societal thing happening.
There have been important developments in the Breonna Taylor case and the Black Lives Matter movement that students and faculty at universities like Arizona State University are tackling head-on. And famous women's rights activist and Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away this month. A huge loss for our country.
So while we wait for a potential COVID-19 vaccination, students across the country are wrestling with everything that's going on — fighting for racial justice, mourning the loss of massive icons, and returning to school in the midst of one of the worst pandemics in U.S. history.
It's not easy, but when we make it out on the other side, hopefully, our country and each of us will be better off than when it began.
