By Sydney Young

COVID-19 changed the lives of everyone. It changed how people interact with others, how they spend time outside of their homes and how safe people must be in this pandemic. 

The lives of college students have changed. Instead of getting to have a normal college experience, college students had to switch to online classes at home and go through mandates when allowed back on campus. However, things are looking better. 

Transitioning back to in-person classes has been an experience for students. Evan Corley, a senior at UM, said the hardest part about coming back to in-person classes is “waking up early.”

Corley enjoyed doing classes online, saying “…it was nice to just have my laptop under my bed, watch class… and then get on with my day.” If the university offered online classes this year, Corley said, “I would have taken every single class online.”

While coming back has been difficult Corley said he is glad the campus is more lively. Last year students had to wear masks at all times, unless outside, students living on campus could only go into their own dorms, and no college events were held all year.

This year change can certainly be seen on campus. Greek life was able to have in-person recruitment, college night was held on Main Quad and students no longer have to wear masks in dorms. 

When asked about the university’s mask mandate Corley said, “I think it’s fair… I think if there were some large event outdoors, I think they should ask people to wear masks.”

“I think they’re doing an alright job… if things get worse, they’ll probably tighten it up, if things get better, they’ll probably loosen it up,” says Evan on the university’s job at keeping students safe. 

UM hosted a vaccine clinic on August 27th, for students and faculty. Corley’s thoughts on the clinic were “That’s an awesome proactive way the school cannot just encourage people to get the vaccine but make a way for them to get the vaccine.”

The University of Montevallo is taking all necessary precautions to keep students and faculty safe. You can see everything they are doing on their webpage.

Life has certainly changed since COVID-19, especially for college students, but slowly things are getting back to normal. UM is now back in-person, mask mandates have been lessened, and events are now being held on campus. Corley is glad to be seeing the campus come back to life, and finish his last semester on a good note.