[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.14.1″ _module_preset=”default” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_row column_structure=”2_5,3_5″ _builder_version=”4.14.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column type=”2_5″ _builder_version=”4.14.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.14.1″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n
Western students answer the question: \u201cWhat is your raw, honest, unfiltered, opinion about the recent lifting of the mask mandate?<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.14.1″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n Gretchen Sims<\/strong> | Freelancer<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/files\/2022\/05\/pam-menegakis-12yQhBE8nUc-unsplash.jpg” title_text=”pam-menegakis-12yQhBE8nUc-unsplash” _builder_version=”4.14.1″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_divider color=”#8c8c8c” divider_position=”center” divider_weight=”8px” _builder_version=”4.14.1″ _module_preset=”default” width=”90%” module_alignment=”center” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.14.1″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n Contact the author at gsims20@mail.wou.edu<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”3_5″ _builder_version=”4.14.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.14.1″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n Name: <\/b>Ruth Simonsen<\/span><\/p>\n Class standing:<\/b> sophomore<\/span><\/p>\n Major: <\/b>psychology<\/span><\/p>\n Pronouns: She\/her<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI like seeing people\u2019s faces. I like knowing when I smile at them that they will smile back. I like seeing the faces of people in my clases. Of course there are still fears, but I like being able to put a face to a name and a name to a face. I feel like when you can see people\u2019s faces and can smile at them, it is easier to be friendly. It\u2019s just a better vibe.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Name: <\/b>Makaela Calonder<\/span><\/p>\n Class standing: <\/b>first-year<\/span><\/p>\n Major: <\/b>pre-education<\/span><\/p>\n Pronouns: She\/her<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cPersonally, I am very excited about not having to wear masks. I work at a pool, so in general \u2014 in my daily life \u23e4 it is nice because it gets very hot and sweaty in the mask. Here at WOU it is nice not having to worry about not having one on me at all times. Of course I respect everyone who still chooses to wear a mask, but for me it is really nice.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Name: <\/b>Kamryn Bolan<\/span><\/p>\n Class standing:<\/b> first-year<\/span><\/p>\n Major: <\/b>business<\/span><\/p>\n Pronouns: She\/her<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cSo far this year, especially as a freshman, I have felt very distant from the community of students here. Over the past two years, it\u2019s like we have forgotten how to socialize. I think there is so much personality revealed in a person’s face, so when you cover half of it up, you have trouble connecting with the person you just met. Going into spring term with masks off has given me a new sort of motivation for going to class. It\u2019s crazy how much seeing the teacher’s face can amplify your engagement.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Name: <\/b>Sienna Painter\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Class standing:<\/b> junior<\/span><\/p>\n Major:<\/b> American Sign Language studies<\/span><\/p>\n Pronouns: She\/they<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThroughout the pandemic, I have been very cautious through shutdowns. (I) was not going anywhere other than like the forest during the shutdown. I started wearing a mask in January of 2020 \u2014 long before everything. I already had masks because I have been wearing masks since like 2018 whenever I felt sick or whatever, so I was already really comfortable with masks to begin with. For mask mandates being lifted, right now, I am very skeptical\u2013mainly because of Spring Break. We lifted the mask mandate in all of Oregon, California and Washington right before Spring Break \u2014 right where all of WOU students would be traveling too. That\u2019s why I am still wearing a mask to all of my classes and will be especially more cautious over the next two weeks. Also, I am like f—–g scared of COVID because of all of the variants and waves and stuff. I have never really minded with masks, but I do think because of our (WOU\u2019s) high vaccination rates, and WOU is a pretty small campus, and people are fairly responsible, I am fairly comfortable with other people not wearing their masks. I also have not felt pressure to take my mask off. I was afraid I would be the only person in my classes not wearing a mask, but people have been pretty chill.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Name: <\/b>Max Brayton\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Class standing: <\/b>first-year<\/span><\/p>\n Major: <\/b>psychology<\/span><\/p>\n Pronouns: They\/Them<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cMy parents are more conservative and Republican so they have been against the masks since the beginning and it\u2019s nice to not hear s–t from them anymore. But, you know, with them as my parents, I see different perspectives which is interesting. Although I don\u2019t agree with them, it is nice to have that perspective. I am from southern California and even down there, they are not being as safe as we are (in Oregon). I feel more comfortable not having my mask on here because I know, at least at our school, that more than ninety percent of people are vaccinated. Everyone has been really safe and respectful. Like I feel comfortable wearing, or not wearing, my mask here. I feel like this community has been very welcoming and inclusive and I feel like it\u2019s about time (the mask mandate was lifted). I am a little nervous though. I saw a New York Times article this morning that a new COVID wave is hitting, but I feel like as long as everyone is being safe, I like to have my mask off \u23e4 you really connect to people more.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Western students answer the question: \u201cWhat is your raw, honest, unfiltered, opinion about the recent lifting of the mask mandate?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1094,"featured_media":18895,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[1468,202,359,1469,1464,1465,1467,1176,1463,1466,1179,1462,684,39],"class_list":["post-18892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-special-issues","tag-campusvoices","tag-covid","tag-covid19","tag-freelancer","tag-gretchen","tag-gretchensims","tag-intern","tag-mask","tag-maskmandate","tag-masks","tag-pandemic","tag-studentmedia","tag-western","tag-wou"],"modified_by":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18892","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1094"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18892"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18892\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18895"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}