A Different Routine

by Sarah-Elizabeth McGill

Senior Sarah-Elizabeth McGill shares her experience as a university student during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

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 In March 2020, the week teachers they know when their students’ moods have before Spring Break, I was shifted, and my professors have done their best to make on a trip to Chicago with sure my classmates and I are okay. the Faulkner University Chorus. At the beginning Some of the changes will have a positive lasting effect. of the week, we had heard Faulkner installed Echo360 in all the classrooms. Echo rumors that COVID-19 360 allows students in quarantine to listen to recordings was in Alabama, but we from their classes. It has been a real game changer for were focused on having student athletes, who now can listen to or watch the fun on our trip. On the lectures while they are on the road. Public Relations intern Sarah-Elizabeth McGill last day of the tour, on the bus ride home, our friends began to text us about an Going into the spring semester we looked forward to the sporting events that had been moved from Fall to announcement made in chapel. Spring Break would Spring. We were also hopeful that we’d get to participate be two weeks long, with the possibility of the semester in Jamboree, but a few weeks into the spring semester transitioning to online classes. all of the clubs had a conversation about whether we thought it was safe. The clubs voted and the decision None of it seemed real until we got the email from was made to cancel Jamboree again. President Williams outlining the university’s plan. As someone who has always enjoyed school, I was not One of my favorite things about Faulkner University excited for an extended spring break or classes online. is that many professors keep their doors open so if a student needs them, they feel comfortable walking We learned that Jamboree would not be happening. I in. My professors have encouraged us to stop by if we wanted so badly to perform in my first Jamboree show need to talk about anything. During the fall semester with my Delta sisters, and I wanted to actually be in I was stressed about my job, my thesis project, and class with my friends and professors. maintaining my classes. I went to one of my professors and asked their advice about how to manage my time With classes online we did not know if we were going to better. At the end of our talk they offered to pray for 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. 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.

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.

me and my family. I felt cared for and reassured. I know that I am in an atmosphere where my professors genuinely care about me and my wellbeing, a fact that has been especially important to me this year.

The overall mood of campus has been one of a hopeful excitement. We as students want to experience our favorite Faulkner traditions again like tailgating on Saturdays, watching our friends compete in sports, singing the Alma Mater in chapel on Fridays with arms linked together, and participating in the unique event that is Jamboree. We pray that we will experience life as it was before COVID-19.

I also pray that the freshmen class of 2020 can experience Faulkner life without social distancing, masks, and blue X’s. Many of them had their high school senior year cut short, graduation was different from what they imagined, they did not get to attend prom, or play one last home game. Welcome Week had to be altered and as a Welcome Week Mentor, I wanted to make sure that the freshmen still had a good time and knew that they were at a unique university that cared for them in so many ways.

At the beginning of the fall semester one of my professors told me something that has stuck with me. Many are calling this a “new normal”, but it’s not. This is only an uncomfortable season we must endure together. It is a season marked by loss and tragedy, but it possesses a hopefulness for a brighter future ahead.

It has been a weird and uncomfortable school year, but the Faulkner family has shown how it can come together during a time of adversity. The Faulkner family encourages each other to keep moving forward and to stay positive. The environment Faulkner has created is what sets it apart from other institutions. I am thankful for the Faulkner family coming together to encourage me and my classmates. They have taken the time to invest in us to keep going and to emerge from this experience as better people, but ultimately as better Christians and servants for Christ.

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