Eventually, I decided that UK was the school I wanted to go to despite never even entering the state of Kentucky. This experience of choosing a school without touring was common across the country. There was a sharp decrease in out-of-state students across the country as many decided that it was best to stay close to home during this time. Some students who would have normally attended colleges chose to take a gap year because they didn't want to go to school if it was only online or they needed to work to support family members who may have lost their jobs. The class of 2020 has had a fair share of sacrifice.
Then, despite being allowed on campus, our classes are almost entirely online. We aren't getting the same quality of education that we would've gotten in-person. It's difficult to stay focused on schoolwork when I'm taking classes in my bedroom. I often end up taking spontaneous naps or struggle to focus altogether. Sometimes, I want to take a mental break and hang out with people but it's nearly impossible to make friends. Not everybody wants to meet new people who may have a life-threatening virus and all the events that usually allow people to meet others were online only so we never got the opportunity of face-to-face interaction. I can't tell if someone is smiling at me in the hallway because a mask covers their facial expressions. Every time I hang out with someone, we have to go somewhere in public because visitors aren't allowed in our rooms. The entire college experience is gone. Human connection is absent. The campus is usually pretty dead and deserted. I sometimes wonder why I'm even still here.
I also wonder if I'm safe here and if we'll actually stay on campus until Thanksgiving as promised. All in-person classes, which are few and far between, slowly seem to be gaining more online aspects and will likely end up being entirely online by the end of the semester. Students who are known to have been exposed to someone COVID-19 positive are still attending in-person classes, making the spread even worse. My assumption is that the University is aware of this and will eventually make all classes online, especially if there is a small outbreak in a class. However, one thing I will say is that students are being respectful of university guidelines. Almost everybody always wears a mask, uses hand sanitizer, and keep their distance. Of course, we are not perfect at it but we are trying our best. I genuinely think our students are making the best effort possible. Students are still sneaking students from other buildings into their dorms and the fraternities are still having parties, but overall, we're all doing our part. I understand why students just want to have fun after all the things we were hopeful for were canceled in the spring. I don't know if we will get sent home but with a campus this depressing, I wouldn't mind going home early.
As mentioned earlier, the University of Kentucky has put forth guidelines to keep students safe. The "Daily 4.0" includes regular handwashing, wearing a mask, social distancing, and completing a daily screening survey. Below are pictures of the following:
The daily email we receive to do our daily screening:
The daily screening questionnaire:
Every student had to get tested within two weeks of move-in. Here is a video showing how the process went:
