CLEVELAND, OHIO– Imagine having the Spring Break you’ve always wanted with your best friends and teammates in Orlando, Fla., then returning home to realize that your “home,” is back in Cleveland, Ohio, finishing out your final semester of Junior Year from the bedroom you grew up in.
The Coronavirus pandemic has shut-down all schools nationwide and each state is starting to consider the fatalities that can occur. Being from Cleveland, Ohio, my commute to Indiana Tech is roughly three hours, which is a drive I do not make often. Hearing the news of campus being shut-down and our classes being altered to online has affected me in many different ways.
Being a student-athlete, Spring is considered an “off-season,” but also an opportunity to build off of the previous season. I am a Fall athlete and I participate on the women’s soccer team at Tech. This Spring season was crucial to build some chemistry that our team really lacked during the Fall, which is ultimately why we did not have a successful Fall. This “Mandatory Lockdown,” has cancelled all Athletics and training that would help to make the aspect of “team building,” quite difficult.
I also am an employee for Indiana Tech Athletics, and having all athletic events and overall seasons cancelled has hurt me financially. I use my job at Indiana Tech for pocket change and as an internship through the Communication program at Tech. Luckily, I was able to adjust the means of my internship, but I really miss interning for Tech Athletics.
This pandemic has moved me out of my on-campus housing at Tech and back home as well. The only issue with this is I am very stubborn and independent to where I love my family’s company, but also like to not be smothered by questions of, “What’s on the agenda today?” I miss my life at Tech and this Coronavirus has ripped that from me and my friendships that I built at Tech and try to continue to build on from home in social-isolation.
I never realized how so much could be taken from me in the blink of an eye. Academically this semester would have really helped raise my overall GPA, which is something I really wanted to build on. Not being able to meet face-to-face with my professors or interact with my classmates is inconvenient and belittles all the work I personally have put into this semester.
To touch on Academics a little more, we have the option to take the grades as they come, or fill out a form to consider them as a pass or fail option. The issue with this is that if I abide by this option, my course work will not impact term or cumulative GPA calculations.
“We’ll just have to take it day by day and work together to get through the semester.”
Alicia Wireman, Assistant Professor/Chair of Communication at Indiana Tech Univ.
In all honesty, this COVID-19 Pandemic has seriously affected my life, but not in a positive way. Like I mentioned before, imagine having your Spring semester unfold without the COVID-19 Pandemic. Things would be different, right?
daniblago10 