By: Mary Campbell Jackson

MONTEVALLO, Ala. – As a student who began his time at the University of Montevallo during the covid-19 pandemic, Joseph Honeycutt, senior Communications major, gives his thoughts on the effect it had on his last two years of college. 

Sitting in the study room in Humanities Hall where Honeycutt works, he shared his opinions on the direction of the pandemic as a whole. 

“It’s going to take a cumulative effort from everyone to make sure things continue to run as smoothly as possible until we find a more permanent solution,” he said from behind his blue mask. 

Many people consider the pandemic to be a thing of the past, but colleges and businesses across the country are still mandating masks. 

UM’s plan for covid-19 operations during the fall semester includes required face coverings in most areas, but no longer enforces social distancing. The biggest change from last semester is the return of in-person classes. 

Being back in the classroom may have been an easy jump for some students, but for Honeycutt, it was somewhat of a menace. He didn’t experience what campus was like before Covid, that is, until this fall. 

Parking became a ritual struggle. “For three months I had my pick of parking spots, and now I have to show up 30 minutes early to make sure that I get a good parking spot,” said Honeycutt. 

Choosing between in-person classes and online classes last semester was an easy decision for Joseph, who prefers in-person classes greatly. “I feel like we get a better lecture experience in-person.” For many students, in-person classes guarantee a smoother communication between professor and student. 

“The technology we’ve been utilizing to make up for the lack of in-person experience has been effective, but has limitations,” he says. Honeycutt finds online classes less interactive and has noticed that some of his classmates took advantage of the option to turn their Zoom camera off. 

As far as the workload for classes, Joseph Honeycutt says he spends the same amount of time working on school assignments. 

In his online experience, some professors would compensate for the lack of in-person teaching, resulting in extra busy work. Without extra assignments, Honeycutt can now focus on the lectures or read the textbook for his classes. 

The University of Montevallo has made several social media posts referring to the CDC guidelines for staying healthy. 

To Honeycutt, it is important that the university follows these recommendations. “I would rather them be a little bit more restrictive rather than less,” he said. In his opinion, the CDC guidelines are the benchmark for colleges to follow.

Honeycutt says he believes UM handled the pandemic with stride. “They did a really good job researching what other colleges across the state were doing,” he says, “They did the best they could.”

Joseph Honeycutt is optimistic about the next few months of post-pandemic society, but was quick to say, “The mutations of the virus, the public response, is all questionable.” In Joseph’s eyes, there are some things as a society being done right, but that we have to continue to cooperate with each other and the CDC in order to eradicate the virus.