Staying sane during a pandemic is hard enough, not to mention staying productive. With classes and meetings being online because of COVID-19, the way people work and study has changed. Outside stressors are frequently affecting people’s mental health, often acting as a distraction. Many people’s schedules are now different, as the pandemic disrupts all aspects of life. Particularly, the switch to virtual learning and work has forced people to change their routines and, in many cases, thrown off their productivity. 

Personally, staying productive during the pandemic is difficult when I have online classes because there are reduced opportunities to change my work environment. Before the pandemic, I used to switch up my environment by studying at coffee shops, libraries or other public places. However, with COVID-19 guidelines and social distancing,  I now have to rely on switching up my study space in my dorm to maintain productivity.

I’ve learned that the way I arrange my room is important to me staying focused and motivated. By maintaining separation between places to relax and study, I’m able to prevent distractions and keep my mind focused on schoolwork. For example, my desk is moved away from my bed to create a physical and mental separation between my workspace and my resting space. Additionally, I keep all school-related materials on or near my desk to further create a distinction.

I make sure to keep my desk clutter-free and strictly organized. I’ve found that if I have a cluttered space, it negatively affects my productivity. I keep my office supplies organized in designated containers and areas of my desk. Utilizing drawers to keep papers sorted – rather than letting them pile up – has helped me stay focused. For my online classes, it’s important to have a designated charging area to ensure that I’m prepared for class and my chargers don’t get misplaced. During my class time and study time, I’ve been extra careful to avoid using my phone or other unnecessary electronics which is especially tempting during Zoom classes or when I am studying alone.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, I’ve noticed that staying organized is more difficult when trying to manage ever-changing in-person and virtual obligations. The way I’ve improved my organization is by keeping both a physical planner as well as a regularly updated online calendar. Additionally, I use sticky-notes to keep track of to-do lists throughout the day in my workspace and to keep track of thoughts that come up as I am studying since that is quicker than stopping to update my planner or calendar. 

Although I try to actively avoid clutter, I do have small things that bring me joy at my workspace, such as photos and small decorative items near my desk that add an element of comfortability. In particular, little things like my zen garden breaks the monotony of schoolwork and adds a personal touch. Other items like personal journals and some of my favorite books also add to my environment to make it more enjoyable.

2020 has been a year marked by tragedy, heartache and, unfortunately, great division. A quick glance or scroll through social media makes it very clear that our society is fragmented. Earlier this month, the Pew Research Center published a study regarding the division in the United States. They found that the U.S. is facing an exceptional political divide and most individuals agreed that Americans had fundamental disagreements about core values.

Personally, I have been most struck by the response of the Church and the Christian community to this divide. While the pandemic persists and hospitals throughout the nation are overrun, many in the Church have responded not with compassion but, rather, with contempt. The overwhelming Christian response to the pandemic is clear – resist lockdowns and government intrusions.

Obviously, this hasn’t been the response of every church or Christian person to the pandemic. However, it is clear that many see COVID-19 restrictions, like wearing a mask, as a violation of liberty and a way for the government to oppress the Church. Popular Christian leaders have propelled this thinking by teaching their followers that there is no pandemic and suing the government over mask mandates. 

For those that do not believe in masks or in COVID-19, I’m not here to try and convince you. By now, I assume that most people have made up their minds regarding the pandemic and their opinions are unlikely to change. However, I am imploring the Church and Christians to follow COVID-19 guidelines. 

I know some reading this will vehemently disagree with my opinion. You might believe that COVID-19 is being blown out of proportion, or you might think that the lockdowns and masks don’t really work. That’s fine. As Christians, however, we have an obligation to humbly and obediently abide by the authorities instituted above us. 

Fine, you might say, but what if the government persecutes the Church? Shouldn’t we resist government regulations that oppose the Bible? I completely agree. If the government tells Christians to throw away their Bibles, we should resist that. If the government starts imprisoning Christians for praying, we should keep praying. However, COVID-19 restrictions in the U.S. are not acts of persecution.

Christians in India face persecution with laws that ban conversion to Christianity. Christians in Libya face persecution by being subjected to extreme physical violence and imprisonment if they identify as a Christian. I hope you’ll agree that having to wear a mask during a church service or limiting singing in a church due to concern for public health fails to qualify as religious persecution.

I don’t think the problem is that American churches are being persecuted, but that most Christians are currently placing their political and personal priorities above the needs of others. Wearing a mask is uncomfortable. Restrictions on gatherings are inconvenient. Yet, our health and medical professionals urge us that these things will help protect others. 

You might disagree with the medical professionals. You might believe that masks do nothing and protect no one. I’m not a health expert, but I know that our nurses and doctors are telling us the hospitals are reaching max capacity. I know individuals disproportionately vulnerable to COVID-19 cannot go to the grocery store because many people at the store refuse to wear a mask. 

Even if you disagree with the effectiveness of masks or the restrictions on gatherings, I urge you to consider how defying these regulations impacts our community. Every time you refuse to wear a mask, you isolate those who believe it provides protection. When you disregard health protocols, you tell others that your gatherings are more important than the safety of the community. 

I often think about how the early Christians would view our response to COVID-19. In a Christianity Today article about how Christians should respond to COVID-19, the response of early Christians to epidemics is examined, as they lived through two different epidemics. This article draws upon Rodney Stark’s book “The Rise of Christianity,” in which he explains how the early Christians responded to these epidemics.

“Christians laid themselves down, even to death, and comforted those who were dying, bringing solace to those afflicted by the deadly contagions,” the article said regarding the behavior of early Christians during these epidemics. “With their extraordinary acts of kindness, Christians were then viewed as a caring community and their faith [was] taken more seriously.

The behavior of early Christians was not marked by protests or contention, but by love. Stark argues that part of what allowed Christianity to grow during these epidemics was the fact that radical love on the part of Christians attracted more members to the Church.

Unfortunately, I fear that this would not be said of the Church’s response to the epidemic today. Christians have an obligation to respond to the pandemic with love. We have a duty to humbly submit to authority and show kindness to those around us. 

In the past few months, I have also begun to wonder about how Jesus would respond to this pandemic. If, in a hypothetical world, Jesus were here today and living through COVID-19, what would he be doing?

Jesus was not a political leader. I know that so many of you wish he was. You wish that Jesus would have encouraged us to rebel against the government and told us who to vote for – but he didn’t do that. In fact, Jesus didn’t even condemn the government. Rather than speak of the government and political figures, Jesus was focused on the religious leaders of the time and showing how those leaders weren’t actually helping the community. 

Jesus was concerned with the fact that the religious leaders of the time were hypocritical. These leaders acted as if they were righteous and spiritual, but were actually greedy and self-centered. Though these leaders said they were upholding good, religious practices, they were neglecting mercy and justice. 

So, when I think about how Jesus would act today, I think it would look a lot like it did over 2000 years ago. He would come in humble submission, willing to serve the vulnerable and downtrodden members of society. He wouldn’t be in the front line of the protest against government regulations or in the courtroom suing the state. I think he would be comforting the family who just lost a loved one or sharing a meal with the nurse who just worked a 12-hour shift. 

You can still be concerned about the government. You can still be concerned about who gets elected and what policies are put in place. However, we must recognize that those concerns should never outweigh one of our greatest commandments: love thy neighbor. 

Students at William Jewell College will soon move in, beginning with new students Aug. 22 and ending with returning students Aug. 25. Due to health precautions implemented to best maintain the Jewell community’s health during the COVID-19 pandemic, move-in will be noticeably different than in years past.

Before move-in, students must fill out a COVID-19 Campus Housing Screening Form no sooner than 24 hours before moving in to campus. Once on campus, instead of going straight to their residence halls, students will report to the Mabee Center – where they will be screened for temperatures and given a stamp that allows them to move into their designated residence halls. New students will also receive their iPad from the Mabee Center upon check-in.

This is the first year that Greek life and other students will not be present on new student move-in day to assist with first-year move-in. Instead, all students – both new and returning – will be able to have no more than two guests help them move in. Once screened and approved, students and their guests will make their ways to residence halls, where there will be separate staircases for entering and exiting to promote distancing.

Masks are required to be worn properly by all in attendance. Gloves, which are also required to be worn, will be passed out at check-in. Students will be given a 90 minute designated time slot to move in to ensure minimal congestion of the residence halls and adhere to capacity guidelines. Since guests are not permitted in dorms while the campus is at level B or C of the campus housing protocol, guests who are helping students move must leave campus immediately following the end of the designated 90 minute time slot.

Once students are moved in they must adhere to the housing, dining and campus policies associated with the threat level matrix – which are categorized in increasing threat from 0, A, B, C and D, with D meaning cluster cases have broken out on campus. The current threat level can be found by viewing the threat level flag placed on the quad or on the Jewell website. The color of the flag – bright green for level 0, light green for level A, yellow for level B, light red for level C and dark red for level D – will denote the current threat level and appropriate precautions to be taken.

The only new housing policy for the 2020-21 school year is the Quarantine and Isolation Policy, which was recently put out by the College. The document states that “students must be ready to act swiftly should they find themselves in one of the final two categories [exposed to, showing symptoms of or diagnosed with COVID-19]. Residential students should also have an immediate off campus housing contingency plan (return home, stay with friends or relatives, etc.) in the event of an unanticipated campus closure.”

Asymptomatic residential students who have been exposed to someone suspected to have or diagnosed with COVID-19 must temporarily relocate to a room designated for quarantine use by Jewell staff. Students under quarantine are prohibited from having visitors and can arrange for meals to be delivered to their room. If a student under quarantine does test positive for COVID-19, they must begin isolation. 

Students diagnosed with COVID-19 or another highly contagious illness must begin isolation if they are unable to leave campus. Students under isolation may leave their room only to use the restroom or in case of emergency and will have isolation room calls from the College nurse practitioner. Visitors are prohibited in both instances. Students will be released from quarantine and/or isolation following 14 days free of COVID-19 symptoms and upon permission from the nurse practitioner.  

In addition to the changed move-in and housing policies, the College is taking other steps to make campus safer as students return to campus. Plexiglass has been installed in high traffic consumer areas and in certain classrooms. All students and employees will be expected to track symptoms daily using this form. 

Two cloth masks will be provided to students upon arrival – as they are required to wear on campus at all times unless otherwise instructed – and there will be stations for disposable masks throughout campus. Custodial services will be cleaning high-touch areas at least once a day. The College is also encouraging students and employees to clean high-touch areas after each use, following the “wingtip and wipe method,” wherein one wipes down every area within reach of one’s open arms.

Testing and contact tracing will be followed throughout the semester. Testing is always available through the Clay County Health Department and is free for Jewell students. Preventative testing of asymptomatic members of the Jewell community will be directed to the Clay County Health Department to be tested. Those who are symptomatic or asymptomatic with recent exposure will be tested at either the Student Health Center or Liberty Hospital, chosen on a case by case basis. Those directed to be tested at Liberty Hospital will not be responsible for the cost of the test, according to Jewell’s COVID-19 testing policy. 

Students will be tested periodically if they are participating in activities in which facial coverings are not required and distancing cannot always be executed. According to the testing policy, students who fall under that category are those participating in “team physical exercise, athletic practices and weight training, and athletic performances in which distancing is difficult and facial coverings are not advised,” as well as those in “ensembles, rehearsals, and vocal or theatrical productions (performers only).”

To ensure these precautionary measures are effective, the College strongly suggests that all students get tested no less than 72 hours before returning to campus. 

For more information on measures the College is taking, refer to Jewell’s Campus Guide During the COVID-19 Pandemic.