Friday was the last day for many students to be face to face in a classroom.
Tennessee Tech announced Thursday they will extend spring break another week. This comes as a response to national concerns about the COVID 19 virus.
Environmental science senior Annabelle Dempsey said Tech is making the right decision.
“With something like this, it’s not so much keeping it from getting to people because that’s inevitable, it’s going to get to people no matter what. The name of the game is keeping the spread relatively slow,” Dempsey said. “Something like this, closing campus for an extra week and then going online, that slows it down, it keeps hospitals from being overloaded, it keeps healthcare providers from being overworked.
Dempsey added these precautions could mean nothing in the long run, but decided it’s best to not take any chances.
Tech also announced after the break all classes will be converted to online. Ceramics major Jude Pruitt said she agrees with the extended break, but not online classes.
“I don’t appreciate going online because as a craft major I feel like a lot of people loose a lot of that studio time that they need to create stuff for their midterm and continue their projects. I know that online classes, they’re considered a commodity but at this point it’s a necessity. Not every home has internet, and I don’t think that’s fair access to everyone,” Pruitt said.
While most students get to go home and spend time with their family, some students are stuck at campus for the time being. Cybersecurity and Forensics senior Pranit Lotekar said he had to cancel a family visit.
“Me being an international student, I stay in the dorm, but the problem is we have the dorms open, but we don’t have the cafeteria open. I don’t cook food, I’m more reliable on the cafeteria because I’m paying for the cafeteria,” Lotekar said. “But I have my friends over here, I’m going to stay with their parents. Other international students, if they don’t have anyone over here, if they don’t have good friends, they can face a problem.”
Lotekar said he hasn’t seen his family in India in over eight months.
