Coping with the ‘New Normal’: Wearing Masks
Students work on a project while wearing masks in the library.
With all of the craziness going on in the world, nobody could imagine that a global pandemic would come and affect our daily academic lives. Because of this pandemic, students from colleges and universities all over have had to adjust to wearing face masks to protect themselves from getting sick and from getting others sick. The Trailblazer interviewed a couple of students and an assistant resident hall coordinator about how they are coping with this new normal of wearing masks on campus.
Shaunessy Yocum, a product design and production processes major from Clinton, Indiana, discussed that she has maintained going to classes in a mask by wearing a mask in class, but not when she walks around outside. Her reasoning for this is because she feels as though she is “slightly suffocating” and is “limited on air” due to how hot the temperatures have gotten over these past couple of weeks.
Yocum also mentioned that she has adapted to wearing the masks by “drinking more water” due to the fact that wearing a mask irritates and dries out her throat. Yocum also spoke about how wearing a mask can be hard at times.
“Every time that I take my mask off, it gets stuck on my glasses,” Yocum commented.
Brooke Elliott, a surgical tech major from Milltown, Indiana, mentioned on how effective she thinks wearing the masks are:
“In a way, I think that they will help people just because it’s an airborne disease, but I don’t know if the masks will help with that. It’s better to be safe than sorry,” she mentioned.
Elliott also referred to how challenging social distancing can be. She mentioned how hard it was to social distance in instances like a fire drill.
“We all just walked out in a big group, so, in that moment, what is the point?” she stated.
Wearing masks around campus is even hard for ARHC’s as well. Bryce Myers, a homeland security and law enforcement major from Linton, Indiana, talked about how hard it can get to enforce others to wear their masks on campus. When asked about what he thinks the future outlook of wearing masks on campus will look like, Bryce mentioned:
“I don’t think anything will change in the near future. It’s not like COVID-19 is going to just disappear.”
With everything up in the air as to how long this pandemic will last, it is hard telling when everything on and off campus will get back to normal. Students on campus are all definitely in for one crazy and unique school year.
