My Safe Home Away From Home

 I believe that the University of Kentucky will not have to go online before the end of the semester. After being on campus for three weeks i have noticed that this school seems to take more per-caution than other universities. Obviously UK has signs promoting social distancing and mask wearing but they also made everyone that would be living on campus get tested so that students that had Covid-19 could quarantine before knowing they had it and accidentally spread it to other students, which was a very smart decision. Personally i don't know any other schools that made testing mandatory for students before starting school in the fall. Although all of my classes are online, some of my friends have told me how safe the in person classes seem because they have to sit so far away from everyone. I've also noticed that every student on campus has a mask on 99% of the time, even outside. We were also all given wellness kits that had all of the sanitary things we would need and even a UK mask when we arrived to campus which was pretty cool because i haven't seen any other university do that either. Recently, my residency hall has extended the restricted visitation policy for two more weeks, which to me was a smart move because it is less exposure to the students living in this hall.

The beginning of Covid-19

 My name is Stazia Donathan. I am from Wilder, Kentucky and I am 18 years old. I am Caucasian and considered middle class. A little more about me is that my parents have been divorced for six years now, I have two older brothers, and the cutest nephew that is about to turn seven months. When it comes to terms about Covid-19 in my family, it wasn't quite a burden to us but it was an eye-opening experience. We spent way more time together and my mother cooked great homemade meals for dinner every night which used to only be on rare occasions. Although those times were good, my nephew had just been born before the virus so it was very scary for us to have a new born during a pandemic. The grocery stores quickly became empty and restaurants and stores began closing. My workplace also closed, cutting off my income and not too long after that, my parents jobs closed as well. This is when Covid-19 began to get a little more scary for my family and other families too. Although toilet paper, cleaning supplies, hand sanitizer, foods, etc. were scarce my family did alright through this pandemic. We had plenty of food in our cabinets and fridge to keep us full and enough cleaning supplies left over that we already had but it was difficult not having access to our favorite restaurants or stores. It was also upsetting that I didn't get the have the graduation that I had looked forward to the past 13 years and I never got to see my class all together for the last time. We didn't have the senior bike ride, senior walk, or an official last day to say goodbye to our teachers or classmates because we were not aware that we would not be returning back to school. I was probably the only family member that has come the closest to Covid-19 because in May, me and my boyfriend went to his family's beach house in Daytona, Florida. We were aware that the virus was spiking but as individuals, we maintained the social guidelines. I say that I was the closest to Covid-19 because when we arrived to Florida, almost no one was following social guidelines. People were still going out to eat normally, shopping without a mask, and not staying six feet apart from one another, it was almost as if there wasn't a world wide pandemic occurring. It was very strange but we still managed to have a fun time while staying safe and we didn't not get the virus so all was good.