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Coronavirus diary: Students quibble, seniors suffer as school year ends with remote learning

WRAL intern Siegee Dowah is sharing her experiences completing the semester at North Carolina Central University after students were asked to leave campus and classes moved online.

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NCCU Students moving out
DURHAM, N.C.WRAL intern Siegee Dowah is sharing her experiences completing the semester at North Carolina Central University after students were asked to leave campus and classes moved online.
Friday, April 24, 2020

Well, the stay-at-home order was extended to May 8. I don't disagree with it either. People are protesting in the street about the shut-down as if they are being held hostage, but it's all for the safety of the people. If you care about your family and friends health, I advise you to follow the guidelines.

I've been thinking about all the things I could do while I'm at home during this time. I'll probably teach myself how to use other Adobe applications or catch up on some shows I told myself I would watch a few months ago. Either way I don't see all of this "lockdown" stuff as a bad thing.

In New York, C02 levels have dropped a bit. Air pollution levels in China have also dropped. Not that they won't rise again, but it's a good thing to see pop up on my timeline that doesn't involve death tolls. I try to stay positive.

To my 2020 graduates, congratulations! I know this isn't all you hoped for in a graduation but the 2020 Eagles have finally earned their wings. Fly high and succeed with all that NCCU has taught you. I'm proud of you all.

Don't forget, there's a light at the end of every tunnel.

Thursday, April 23, 2020

Today is my last day of classes. After this I have finals which will be held sometime next week. It's been a difficult transition into online classes, and I wanted to know how some of my classmates were taking it.

NCCU Senior Kyrie Mason gave me his take on the matter.

"Well, I think it's unrealistic to continue to live our lives as if we're in the previous status quo. Whether we stop social distancing or not doesn't necessarily matter as much as the fact that the world shut down for three months," said Mason.

He continued, "It's unrealistic to think we can continue on and make a 'new normal' out of a situation that points out the many flaws in our way of doing things."

I agree.

One of my friends at another university said they thought it was ridiculous how their professor changed a class meeting time to some time in the afternoon because they had a meeting during class time. As if we as students don't have anything else to do. Some people are essential workers. If we have to act like this is the "new normal", so do they. If they can't make it to class on time because of a meeting or any other reason, class should be canceled as it would be in an in-person setting.

Monday, April 20, 2020

Today is my line sister's birthday, so happy birthday to her. I can add the orthodontist to my list of grievances involving COVID-19. I went in for an appointment and no one told me they canceled all of their appointments until May. It wasn't the fact that they canceled, but that drive there was a kind of a long one since I only go once a month. Oh well.

Friday, April 17, 2020

Today I went to my local organic food store to buy some of my favorite organic chocolate. There's a new policy that says that it is REQUIRED to wear a mask to walk in the store. I previously did not own a mask because I was debating with the studies of whether it was safe for me or unnecessary. As a result I never had one until now.

I wasn't sure whether I should've felt offended or relived that if I didn't have a mask, they had some at the front available to purchase. Part of me felt like this is a marketing ploy to take more money that I barely had, and the other part was like, "No, they want to keep me safe." Then I opened it and realized it was just a piece of cloth to tie around my nose and mouth. I've seen the studies that these types of "masks" don't protect against anything and I thought I'd be better off not wearing this.

However, I had to suck it up because I really wanted that chocolate. Moral of the story, I need to buy a real mask.

Wednesday, April 15, 2020

Today the government stimulus checks came out. My parents received theirs, but my brother and I did not. According to Twitter, only a handful of NCCU students were eligible to get one, and the rest were as unlucky as I was.

The upside is that the refund for our housing and meal plan should drop soon.

Tuesday, April 14, 2020

Another Tuesday equals another week of classes.

My classmates and I were filling out our last rundown sheet for our podcast in our Diversity class. We all explained that this is a stressful time. It's not even the classes that are the hardest part. It's balancing all of these factors like working, school and having to live in a pandemic. We all act like its fine and things will be fine, but what if they won't be?

I'm just glad we have a week or two left of classes.

Sunday, April 12, 2020

Today I went to Home Depot to get some supplies for my mother's garden. I had to wait in line outside the store which is totally understandable but slightly inconvenient.

.

All I ever really see these days are people in masks and gloves. I'm not sure if I should feel happy that people are taking the proper precautions, or if I should feel worried that this will become our new normal.

Friday, April 10, 2020
Last night one of my line sisters had a family member die from COVID-19. I keep her family in my prayers and I hope she is well. Events like these just remind me that this is a serious matter. Even though it's not near me and no one I know has been affected, it is still very real.

Stay safe everyone.

Wednesday, April 8, 2020

Today I wish my friend a happy birthday. She has been in quarantine for 14 days after coming come from studying in South Africa. She is safe and did not catch the virus. Although I couldn't go visit her like I normally would, I still called her and wished her a happy birthday.

It's unfortunate that some people won't be able to celebrate coming events as planned. I'll probably be one of those people since my birthday is in May. Nevertheless, I'll come up with something.

Tuesday, April 7, 2020

With this pandemic going on, and being at home with little to no motivation to get work done, my professor gave all of us the week off to rest and catch up on work. I finally caught up on a paper I've been struggling to write. Maybe I just have a lack of motivation because I'm home. My peers have the same complaint. We don't come home to work, we come home to relax. It's hard to separate the two.

I went on a walk with a friend this afternoon. We went to Knightdale Station Park. I don't go to the park often, but a lot of people we're out there, social distancing and keeping to themselves and their families of course. It was nice to go out and breathe.

Friday, April 3, 2020

This coronavirus outbreak has really showed me that there are so many things that we took for granted before this happened. It is sad we had to learn this the hard way, but I am nonetheless hopeful.

A downside of this week is that the student who was infected last week came in contact with two other students in my residence hall. For those who had no choice but to stay, stay healthy and well. I've read too many articles and postings on social media about how this virus can make you feel like you're on the brink of death. I wouldn't wish that on anyone.

As for the rest of us, I am hoping to live out my senior year "normally" beginning in August.

Tuesday, March 31, 2020

I commend everyone who has taken online classes before this outbreak because this is not for me. The main issue I'm having is that I truly do not understand what is going on for one of my assignments. It's not like I can stop by during office hours like I would usually do. Yes the school has given us unlimited resources, but I'm sure everyone has had that one professor that can confuse even the best tutors.

I hope the school makes a decision on this whole PASS/FAIL situation. I'm not sure if my GPA could take a bad blow. All my hard work would be useless at this point.

Monday, March 30, 2020

Last Friday, Governor Cooper ordered all state residents to stay home until April 29. I feel like this would be over sooner if people stopped getting together for at least 2 weeks. Maybe I haven't done my part either since I go grocery shopping every other day. I just like to get out the house every once in a while.

I just found out there's been an outbreak in Northampton County where my grandmother lives. This virus spread just keeps getting worse. I have hope for the coming months though.

Thursday, March 26, 2020

A stay-at-home order was just issued for Wake County. This doesn't fully affect me because I only leave to get groceries and work from home. Hopefully people take the correct measures to stay safe.

I received news that one of my line sisters' father was diagnosed with coronavirus. I hope her and her family stays healthy and well in this time.

I also received an email stating that an NCCU student had self reported to testing positive for COVID-19. The university is working to confirm this, but I am personally not worried.

The student lived off-campus, and they visited my residence hall, Eagle Landing, on March 21. Everyone was required to leave by March 20 except for a small group of people with extenuating circumstances (homeless, dangerous environment, etc). I moved out that Wednesday, and never came back to campus.

For the ones who did have to stay, I hope you all took those necessary precautions. I pray all my Eagles are healthy and well. Keep your immune systems up and stay safe.

Wednesday March 25, 2020

NCCU sent out an email in response to the COVID-19 crisis by offering students a "Student Emergency Relief Fund."

"North Carolina Central University has established a Student Emergency Relief Fund. This fund is designated to support the highest, short-term financial needs to students currently enrolled at NCCU who are now facing extenuating circumstances related to housing, food and other vital resources."

A lot of my peers filled it out, but students speculate this temporary funding would be taken out of next year's financial aid award. Hopefully that's not the case.

Tuesday March 24, 2020

I had my first online classes this week. I like how my professors are trying to make it work and keep us engaged. However, I personally just don't think learning online is helping me retain information. It's something about a classroom setting that is unmatched to sitting on a webcam at home. My friends have experienced the same difficulty, but we're surviving nevertheless.

My professor asked my class how we would feel about going into the PASS/FAIL grading for this semester. I am personally 'so-so' about it.

On one hand, it takes a lot of stress off of us as students during this tough time. On the other hand, some students are trying to build up their GPAs and PASS/FAIL won't impact our grade point averages which will be a negative outcome for the lower GPA students.

Friday, March 20, 2020

Since we're still on our second week of spring break, I don't have any work due just yet, but I finally got a response from one of my professors. It was relieving to know that they understand this will be a difficult transition. A lot of our classes can only be done in person, but I know we will figure out a way to finish out the semester strong.

Thursday, March 19, 2020

I left Durham last night. They told us we had to completely check out but we may come back. I'm confused on why they would have us completely check out if we MAY come back, but I just went ahead and gathered all my things.

I do not think we will be coming back anything soon. The number of cases in NC has risen to over 120 when it was less than 100 yesterday. My friend Matthew was about to go visit his friend last night. Matthew said his friend wasn't feeling well but he wanted to see him anyway. On his way to see him, the friend was confirmed to have COVID-19, so he turned around. I hope he feels better.

Wednesday, March 18, 2020

Last night students were confused on the email sent out from the school that told us we have until March 20 to move our things out. I took the first email as "this is all temporary and I can still come back and get the rest of my things later."

Brant street would usually be filled with students on the way to class, but today you see cars as if its move-in day.

That was until my building area cordinator, Maya Chapman, sent out another email around 1 p.m. It stated: "Originally, residents were told that everyone could return for the remainder of the semester on Sunday, March 22, 2020. Due to heightened risk and federal mandate, this is no longer the case. ALL RESIDENTS WHO RETURN MUST RETURN TO REMOVE ALL BELONGINGS AND COMPLETELY CHECK OUT."

Some of my fellow classmates speculate that they want us to move out in one trip. If the rumor is true, I wasn't prepared to move my entire room out in one day. It took me almost three to move in. This is frustrating. I at least wanted to say good-bye to my friends (some of which are graduating) face-to-face but, that is looking like less and less of a possibility.

"After Friday, March 20, at 5 p.m., students may not return to collect any items left behind until directed. We will continue to monitor the development of this virus. If it is deemed safe by medical experts, we may be able to offer alternative dates to students. As a reminder, the safety of our students and community is the top priority for our decisions," said Chapman.

This is completely understandable but what if we don't come back until next semester? Until then, we wait.

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