Pictured Above: COVID-19 was declared a pandemic in March 2020 by the World Health Organization.
Courtesy of Tara Zimmerman
By Aya Diab
No one knew about this at the time, but the week of March 9, 2020 was the last “normal” week for the foreseeable future for students at USF.
USF, along with all other Florida public universities, transitioned to online course instruction to lessen the risk of COVID-19 following an announcement by the Florida Board of Governors on March 11, 2020.
For college students, there is much to reflect on.
According to a study by the Journal of Medical Internet Research, of the 195 students surveyed, 71 percent indicated increased stress and anxiety due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bradshaw Lee, a senior anthropology major at USF Tampa, has been unemployed for the past year.
“My on-campus job lost funding even though it shouldn’t have, so I’ve been unemployed living at home for a year,” Lee said. “But at least I get to avoid human contact.”
Another student reflected on the past year in a different way.
“I live 30 minutes away from campus when traffic (is) good. Can take up to an hour depending on when my classes are. So classes going remote saved me 3-4 hours a week that I could put towards studying,” Reddit user @RTRC told The Crow’s Nest. “I worked in the hotel industry and was furloughed in late April. It took me over a month to receive benefits but thankfully the CARES Act grant from USF helped keep the bills at bay until then.”
In an email to USF faculty on March 12, President Steve Currall addressed the challenges of the past year and described it as a “a true testament to the spirit of our faculty, staff and students.
“… In this exceptionally demanding year, USF faculty, staff and students have made countless individual and collective sacrifices to sustain academic continuity, conduct impactful research, establish and maintain essential services and health and safety protocols, and serve the Tampa Bay region and state of Florida.”
