Hayden Mortensen
Reporter
Spring break will be exchanged for a longer winter break this year at Pacific Lutheran University (PLU).
Health concerns regarding COVID-19 influenced PLU’s administration to shift and compress the upcoming spring schedule. The administrative staff hope the changes will minimize health risks by limiting the opportunities for the PLU community to exit and re-enter campus en masse. Most January Term (J-Term) classes will be online and will begin Jan 19, two weeks later than normal. J-Term will end Friday, Feb 12. Spring semester will begin the following Wednesday, Feb 17, and continue without breaks except for one day off, Good Friday. Spring semester will conclude on May 28.
The extraordinary schedule shift will cause some students to make sacrifices.
“As an out-of-state student, taking away spring break takes away an opportunity for me to go home and see my family so I’m a little bummed about that,” Junior Nursing Major Bailey Hamilton said. “But I trust the university. And if this is what they think is best, then I’ll support it and remain thankful for the opportunity to continue learning even if it isn’t the most ideal situation.”
No situation has been ideal with local COVID-19 protocols in place, especially for Senior Mathæus Andersen, an exchange student from Denmark who lives on campus. He’s been away from home for some time now.
“This semester I have had nothing but online classes,” Andersen said. “So I really miss being with people, especially when I constantly see pictures of my friends back in Denmark partying and hanging out constantly and without masks.”
Denmark has handled the pandemic differently than the US and Andersen finds himself asking “why am I still here?” when he could be doing online classes back home.
Andersen is a committed student working towards a B.F.A. in Theatre for acting and directing with a minor in Dance.
“I got to keep focused and think of the end result,” he said. Virtual classes make that hard when one’s major is an interactive performing art. “Acting for me is all about connection and some of this connection is lost through Zoom,” Anderson said. He knows sports and other arts need the same in-person connections too.
A silver lining may be approaching with the shocking schedule changes.
An email from the Office of the Provost on Oct 14 said “students can anticipate having more opportunities for in-person instruction” in the spring semester. The email announced that large campus spaces will be open for teaching. Other hygienic measures will be taken for in-person class spaces.
Andersen really hopes those statements will become reality, as do presumably many students like him who are involved with hands-on disciplines and extracurricular activities.
