Physical, mental health are equally important, they say
By LIBERTY GOODNOW, Student Reporter
With coronavirus cases on the rise, Northwestern students have varied views on how to stay safe from the virus.
Students say they’re concerned not only about their own health, but also the health of their friends and loved ones.
Student Corbyn Austin said she has a friend who is caring for a one-month-old baby at home, and her friend gets worried about potentially spreading the virus to her family. The same goes for her grandparents, whose health conditions could worsen if they contracted the virus, she said.
Austin said virtual learning was difficult for her because she had trouble keeping up with her notes and assignment due dates. But she said she gained wisdom from it.
“I learned how important it is to stay physically healthy, but also mentally healthy by taking time to practice self-care,” she said.
Student Jerika Coon also said she struggled with distance learning when Northwestern closed its campus in March 2020 because of the pandemic.
She said she is a hands-on learner, so when she can’t be in the classroom, it makes it more difficult to succeed.
However, the health of others is important to her, especially because everyone’s body reacts to the virus differently, she said.
Now that Northwestern has already done distance learning once, doing so again wouldn’t be as difficult, she said.
“If we went virtual again, we would have the resources to do so without it being chaotic,” she said.
She also said self-care procedures play an important role in safeguarding one’s health.
Student Anderson Ramirez said he is not worried about the omicron variant affecting him because he is confident in his health and his immune system.
Ramirez also said he prefers in-person learning. If he’s not in-class, he feels like he’s “just there watching a video of the professor trying to teach but not processing any of the content,” he said.
Washing his hands and eating healthy foods are a couple ways he’s been staying safe since the pandemic started.
The pandemic has taught him a lesson, he said: To take time to take care for himself.
