Student’s love for school stifled by campus closure

She snoozes her alarm yet again, and now she’s definitely late for school. There is no time left for student Zoe Ives to plan an outfit. She rushes out her door as quickly as she possibly can. Ives hops into her 1988 Toyota Camry named Butterfly. The morning breeze hits her face as the sound of the music blasting through the speakers wakes her up. Ives moves through the campus as fast as she can. She’s almost out of breath by the time she gets to class. It’s Monday morning for Ives.

As a 19-year-old freshman, school is something that Ives has always had an unexplainable love for all her life. Ever since she could remember, she loved going to school everyday. She loves the idea of being in a learning environment where there are opportunities that help her to continue striving in school. Her drive to keep learning new things has expanded her worldview and has pushed her to study beyond her actual major.

With school now being closed due to COVID-19, Ives feels devastated because classes have now become virtual. The pandemic has been a challenge for her everyday life. She puts her life at risk everyday she works at Trader Joes, being surrounded by so many people at once.

“The idea of getting sick doesn’t scare me, what scares me more is the idea of getting sick and having it before I even knew about it and coming in contact with people,” Ives said.

To keep busy during this hectic time, Ives has been doing more than just working, doing homework and editing papers. She rarely watches television shows. She instead spends her time reading, painting and even started to crochet for the first time. So far, she’s crocheted her co-worker’s jeans and has now begun to make a blanket for her mother.

Not having face-to-face classes has crushed Ive’s feelings. She believes that classes are better off being in person, where professors can guide their students and go more in depth. She believes that there were many opportunities students lost this semester. The process of shifting to an online format has been hard for her because of all the pressure she puts on herself being the news editor for the Courier.

“What I love so much about school is going to school, like being in a class and having dialogue with a professor who is an expert and learning in that setting is really exciting for me,” Ives said.

Although she is an editor, journalism is not her major. In fact, she is a history and anthropology major. She is interested in material culture and cultural art. She stated that she has always been interested in journalism and decided to give it a try.

“I’m really interested in journalism,” said Ives. “I felt for a while that this is something that I kind of wanted to try and see how I did. I’m a big news fan, like print journalism such as the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, New Yorker and Wall Street Journal.”

Her love for school never changed. No matter the circumstances, Ives makes the best out of everything. Her drive for succeeding in school does not allow her to fall back and give up. She always looks at the bright side of every situation.

“If I could go to school for the rest of my life I totally would,” said Ives.