We know you’re probably sick of hearing and reading “COVID-19” and “Corona” everywhere, especially if you were personally affected by an inconvenience in travel, or a special trip cancelled. We all have our stories. But one thing that hasn’t been talked about enough is finding a balance between taking responsibility for our own well being to help prevent the spread—like social distancing—and setting the tone for how we behave in a time like this.

It’s your responsibility to take care of your body; washing your hands, not going out if you don’t need to, staying home if you have symptoms, etc.  The role we all individually play in this community is more important than we may realize sometimes. 

Sure, taking care of our health is vital, and should go without being said, but what’s gone off the hook and spun out of control is our behavior. If you look around you, it’s easy to see that society’s chosen to react over the choice to be proactive. This could be a chain reaction from watching those around us stock up on cleaning supplies, bread and toilet paper. When we do these things, we are reacting and not thinking of others needs first and the reality of social distancing soon
becomes selfishness.

Let’s be honest, the memes created and jokes are comical, but there’s an extent. It’s up to us to draw that line and point it out to each other. People are drinking Corona beers intentionally, refusing to stay indoors when they don’t necessarily need to go out. Some also assume they’re untouchable because of their age or lack of symptoms.

Here at NMU, it’s as if there’s something new every day. There have been many steps toward keeping students safe and many updates. The important thing to understand as we all struggle to deal with this pandemic is how we can contribute to the greater good. Sure, it is extremely inconvenient, especially if we will be on a lockdown, such as Italy at this moment, but for some people, this is life and death. 

Let’s get real for a minute. At first, this was all fun and games; NMU students got a long weekend, since having Thursday and Friday of last week off. Then transitioning into online classes had and still has many students excited with the perks of working from home. But what a lot fail to realize is the amount of effort that is still required to go into this new way of learning. Homework assignments are not going away, classes are still in session and exams are being changed up a bit to accommodate that a lockdown browser is no longer needed.

We’re here to remind you that we’re all in this together, and because of that, it’s important to realize that this is us­ (humanity) against COVID-19, not us against each other. If anything, we should be more frightened by how we’re reacting to the pandemic and putting our needs above others. That is the real sickness, and the cure is ours to control.