A Different Routine by Sarah-Elizabeth McGill Senior Sarah-Elizabeth McGill shares her experience as a university student during the COVID-19 Pandemic. In March 2020, the week before Spring Break, I was on a trip to Chicago with the Faulkner University Chorus. At the beginning of the week, we had heard rumors that COVID-19 was in Alabama, but we were focused on having fun on our trip. On the last day of the tour, on the Public Relations intern bus ride home, our friends Sarah-Elizabeth McGill began to text us about an announcement made in chapel. Spring Break would be two weeks long, with the possibility of the semester transitioning to online classes. None of it seemed real until we got the email from President Williams outlining the university’s plan. As someone who has always enjoyed school, I was not excited for an extended spring break or classes online. We learned that Jamboree would not be happening. I wanted so badly to perform in my first Jamboree show with my Delta sisters, and I wanted to actually be in class with my friends and professors. With classes online we did not know if we were going to come back to campus in the fall. When I got the email saying classes would resume on campus for the fall semester, I breathed a huge sigh of relief. I could not wait to get back on campus.
The faculty have done their best to make the classroom atmosphere more exciting and enjoyable. It’s hard for them, too, because they can only see our eyes. As teachers they know when their students’ moods have shifted, and my professors have done their best to make sure my classmates and I are okay. Some of the changes will have a positive lasting effect. Faulkner installed Echo360 in all the classrooms. Echo 360 allows students in quarantine to listen to recordings from their classes. It has been a real game changer for student athletes, who now can listen to or watch the lectures while they are on the road. Going into the spring semester we looked forward to the sporting events that had been moved from Fall to Spring. We were also hopeful that we’d get to participate in Jamboree, but a few weeks into the spring semester all of the clubs had a conversation about whether we thought it was safe. The clubs voted and the decision was made to cancel Jamboree again. One of my favorite things about Faulkner University is that many professors keep their doors open so if a student needs them, they feel comfortable walking in. My professors have encouraged us to stop by if we need to talk about anything. During the fall semester I was stressed about my job, my thesis project, and maintaining my classes. I went to one of my professors and asked their advice about how to manage my time better. At the end of our talk they offered to pray for
Everything looked a little different once we returned. Dividers were put in place in the cafeteria, blue X’s were taped on desks in the classrooms telling us where not to sit, masks were required to be worn in class, professors were told to lecture from behind a blue line taped to the floor, plexiglass dividers were put in place in computer labs, and chairs were placed six feet apart in chapel. It was weird and uncomfortable. I never thought I would have to ask my friends if they had a mask before we left to go eat in the cafeteria, but now it has become a new routine.
8
Faulkner Magazine
McGill and friends eat lunch in the cafeteria. Above her is a newly installed COVID-19 plexiglass barrier. Barriers are decorated with Faulkner artwork, logos and scripture verses.
