Student Reflection

by Lydia Fleming


I have officially finished one full week of online classes and week two of quarantine has just come to an end. The transition from normal in-person classes to all online has been a difficult experience I will always remember. This experience has taught me that things can change in the blink of an eye. I remember waking up Thursday, March 12th and being so excited for my road trip I was leaving for on the following Monday. By 7pm that day things had drastically changed. A school wide email was sent out to all staff and students about the COVID-19 pandemic and we received news that all study abroad programs have been canceled and students were asked to come back, all classes after break would be moved to online till further notice, and everyone was asked to leave campus if possible. This came as a shock because I was unaware of the severity of the virus and its spread in the U.S.

That night as I was getting ready to go out with my senior roommates and friends for one last hoorah because we didn’t know if this would be their last time on campus. As I was getting ready my roommate came and asked me if I saw the new email. She then explained to me that study abroad programs would be canceled up until August. That is when I realized my summer abroad program was also canceled. COVID-19 was affecting not only my present life, but my future life too.

Gratefully, I am not affected by this pandemic as much as other people are throughout the world. I am fortunate enough to have my apartment at school to study from and I have enough food and money to last me a month or two. Additionally, I have the ability to travel to my home in Chicago if things get bad down here in Champaign. Even though I am fortunate enough to have these resources I do miss being able to go to work at Murphy’s Pub, work on my two different research labs, go to clinical, and most importantly go volunteer at International Prep Academy.

Moving forward I hope that everyone follows the CDC guidelines and COVID-19 begins to die down. Today Trump announced that social distancing guidelines will be enforced until April 30th and I am hearing from multiple sources that the earliest this will be over is beginning of June. These are very chaotic and overwhelming times we are living in, but I think going day by day has helped me keep my sanity. We have seen the world come together in ways like never before, whether it be people signing off of balconies, workout classes being instructed off roof tops, or schools donating their supplies to hospitals. However, we have seen how a global pandemic puts people in hysteria. For example, everyone fled the stores and bought an abundant amount of toilet paper leaving families and elderly without any supplies.

Overall, I think starting this week I have a better idea of what is ahead, and I know how I’ll be able to handle all of my schoolwork and stress. The corona virus may have robbed us of these last 8 weeks of classes on campus, but I know in the fall we will come back stronger than ever.

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