By KEVIN FORD, student reporter
Never have the conditions at Northwestern forced students to leave and faculty to conduct classes online. It has caused incredible stress for everyone.
But for Brendan Brown, a sigh of relief finally came when the university announced students have the option to pass their classes with a passing grade instead of a traditional letter grade.
Brown is used to being on the move, feeding cattle for his boss, then rushing back and forth from the City when the Oklahoma City Thunder are playing prime time games near his home in Midwest City.
Oklahoma has a variety of people, but Brown is a rare apple in the basket. It is not hard to imagine a scenario where he and his closest buddy go from hanging out at the lake in the midsummer heat of Oklahoma to exercising with a game of tennis, one of the few sports activities that safely replicates social distancing.
Nobody cares more about their elders than the people-person himself. He would go eat at Smok-Shak each Wednesday with his grandparents, who live in Alva.
Since the pandemic became a crisis, Brown’s interaction with his grandparents has been limited because of the risk the virus poses to the elderly. He used to clean their garage and house on a weekly basis, but lately, Zoom calls with multiple family members have bonded them together in a technological way.
Brown said he will buy each of his grandparents an iPhone, so they are able to connect as everyone else does. He would not dare make too much fun of them for owning androids, acknowledging that he already makes enough fun of them for the iPhone deal as it is.
Of course, people wonder where he’ll find money to buy the phones. His friends always roll their eyes when thinking about all the times Brown was a bit short on funds, yet, he never fails to find a solution to the empty pockets in his shorts.
Since the breakout of the pandemic, his visits to his grandparents have slowed over the past couple weeks. Brown follows protocol and wears a mask to protect others around him from the spread of the illness. Brown still manages to keep his best attributes —smiling, exercising, communication with his family and an undying sense of humor—still intact despite the pandemic.