The present and future impact of coronavirus from the perspective of college students

By Krisi Maynard

The coronavirus pandemic has already greatly impacted college and university students of Forsyth County, Georgia, but several students believe the pandemic will also bring about long-term cultural shifts.

A shelter-in-place order issued by Gov. Kemp in early April shut down several businesses, institutions and other public places across the state. While this order is helping stop the spread of COVID-19, it has many negative implications for college students. The shutdown is affecting students differently based on their year in school, major and college experience in general.

Current Impact on College Students

College seniors have been particularly affected by the order. With universities shut down, seniors are completing their final semester online, and graduations across the state have either been canceled or postponed.

Seniors are under added stress as they search for jobs, rearrange plans or prepare to start grad school.

Morgan Glaze, a senior human development and family science major at the University of Georgia, may be completing her first semester of grad school online due to COVID-19. “Starting [grad] school is going to be really hard — everyone’s been really stressed about that,” Glaze said.

Other college students are struggling with courses that don’t adapt well to an online model. Lauren Grinstead, a nursing student at the University of North Georgia, said, “It’s been hard because…the rest of my clinicals are cancelled — I don’t get that experience.”

Change for the Better?

Kemp is already making plans for the reopening of Georgia, possibly sooner rather than later. While life may return to a version of “normal” in the near future, many students believe this pandemic will bring more permanent changes in culture.

Emily Stewart, a student at the University of North Georgia, expects people to take more precautions. “I don’t see [social distancing] completely going away this year or even into the next year,” she said.

Grinstead described positive changes she believes will take place in the healthcare industry: “I think things are really going to improve for nurses and healthcare workers. [Not having enough ventilators and healthcare workers] are not new issues…Nurses…have been talking about this for years now. We’re going to be more prepared. Pandemics are not a new thing and there are going to be more…in the future.”

COVID-19 has definitely left its mark on our country and our state. Only time will tell the long-lasting effects the virus will have.