With everything going on in the world today, the future (and if we’re all being honest, current state) of education has become uncertain. At the University of Michigan, students have returned to school for hybrid model classes. Some students are all online, and other students have mostly in-person classes. I never thought I’d miss Ann Arbor, but I realized that leaving early last semester really left me feeling as if the year was unfinished. So, I decided that for at least this first semester I will be living on campus. It’s been a month and people still don’t know what to expect for the rest of the 2020-2021 school year, especially with sports officially coming back. So instead of focusing on the uncertainty of the future, let’s focus on what we can control and understand.
First, the CDC recommends washing your hands often. Personally, I wash my hands often anyway because my mom always reminded my siblings and me to wash our hands. However, it’s even more important for everyone to wash their hands and keep from spreading bad germs. But don’t just clean your hands, clean and disinfect surfaces that you come across. This includes dirty surfaces, frequently touched surfaces like door handles and sinks, etc. Just make sure that you don’t mix cleaning supplies that shouldn’t be mixed (i.e. bleach and ammonia).
The next thing that we should really focus on, is not touching our face, eyes, and nose if we can help it. I’ve included myself in this recommendation because I’ve had to really work on this during quarantine. My mother has always told me to keep my hands away from my face, especially in public. It’s just way easier said than done, even if you have a catchy song to remind you all the time (Seriously though, check out this song!). And when you’re out in public WEAR A MASK!
Lastly, take care of yourself and monitor your health. Go to bed before 5 a.m. Eat your fruits (and vegetables). Take your vitamins and DRINK water. During this time, it’s important to take care of the body you have as much as possible. Now, some of my friends have actually been exercising during this time as if the gym were still open. So, if that’s you go for it. I, on the other hand, haven’t worked out much. Instead I’ve been trying to make sure I get outside and walk at least once a day and on occasion I actually get a workout in. Just make sure that you do something active so that when it’s time for you to move around again it isn’t a shock to your system.
This probably doesn’t cover even half of the things you should do to take care of yourself during the pandemic. However, this is a brief overview of some steps we can all take that are in our control during this time.