FORT WAYNE– The Coronavirus pandemic has put many in fear of what will happen next. The unknown can be scary, but it is especially taking a toll on students at Indiana Tech. Sources say that self-isolations, quarantines and statewide shutdowns will not be lifted anytime soon, according to Government officials.
“Trump says the coronavirus crisis could stretch into August, may look at lockdown for ‘certain areas,” said Kevin Breuninger, CNBC Political Journalist.
This virus has schools all over the nation shut down. Indiana Tech is one of them.
“School wise it’s hard to complain because I only have one class,” said Jacob Howe, a Spring student-athlete at Tech. “But that one class got more difficult…We had a final group project which was 5-7 people workload wise, and now he switched it to individual work, which is very challenging.”
This not only affects the Americans on campus, but the International students as well. With the borders being shut down, and many communities across the country under orders to stay at home, some international students don’t know how long it will be until they can see their families again.
“Because of the isolation in the European countries at the moment I am forbidden to go home to my family in the UK,” said Luke Jones, an International student-athlete at Tech.
“Therefore, I am stuck on campus with nobody here and no car to get groceries to make food, clean, of workout.”
Luke Jones
This has affected social interactions, communication, and the campus as a whole. Universities have turned to online courses and emails as means of communication, which allows room for error in course work/credit hours for Graduation. This also forces students to leave their somewhat established lives behind.
“I’ve had to say goodbye to my Fort Wayne life which I was starting to get to love, and go back home,” said Aaron Bunch, Freshman at Indiana Tech. “I know I’ll be back in Fort Wayne in August but it’s hard when you make a new home for yourself and you have to leave it due to a virus.”
Not only has this quarantine and coronavirus outbreak affected the academics and international students at Indiana Tech, but also the athletes.
“From an athletic standpoint I’ve never not played baseball, so it’s super weird…but as of now there’s no repercussions for whatever actions are not being taken to stay disciplined during this time,” said Howe.
Having this off-time is crucial to athletes in means of health and recovery, but is also damaging to the foundation that was being built for a successful season that abruptly ended.
“I never realized how much time was really in a day,” said Howe. “To not have a scheduled training time, it’s a lot easier to get work done. But I do miss being around the guys and enduring the many hours of being with my team,”
Finally, this quarantine is negatively affecting the future plans of seniors and potential 5th year athletes.
“My plans have changed for the future,” Howe explained. “I planned on being a Graduate Assistant, but instead of planning my master’s and figuring out a job I’m deciding to take my 5th Year and play baseball instead of the whole ‘adulting’ thing.”
The unknown of the Coronavirus is what instills fear throughout our society today. My only question is when will this epidemic and quarantine end, and will we as a society be able to bounce back from the transgressions it left behind?
daniblago10 