As COVID-19 continues to spread across the nation, students still living on campus at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater are adjusting to a new way of life. With the first few weeks of online classes underway, students are figuring out how to manage Canvas in a strictly online course system. Figuring out a new daily routine can be a struggle, especially when leaving our homes is highly frowned upon at this time.

What to eat, where to work out, and how to stay mentally focused are some challenges students are faced with.

“There is not much life on campus now that we don’t have in-person class. Life is a lot more boring and I don’t really like the online-based classes as much as I do face-to-face classes,” senior Leo Wegner said.

The amount of students living on or off campus in Whitewater has significantly dropped. While peers went home to be with family during these troubling times, some students do not have the option to do so or choose not to. While we are used to seeing friends and classmates daily, adjusting to the safer at home order has posed many challenges. With Easter taking place on Sunday, some students were faced with their first holiday on campus during these times.

Luckily, some restaurants are still delivering, such as Black Sheep and Gus’ Pizza. First United Methodist Church handed out pre-packaged dinners Monday through Friday. That week they averaged around 100 meals being handed out daily.

With Walmart being the only grocery store in Whitewater, they have faced the problem to make sure everything stays sanitized and the limit of customers in the store at once is followed correctly. Students and community members are wearing masks to keep themselves safe while stocking up on what they need to survive during COVID-19.

“I signed up for a food service so I could get fresh food delivered to me. It is a lot harder to motivate yourself to go outside and workout. My roommates and I have been motivating each other with outdoor games or home workouts from social media,” Jacklyn Smith said.

Eight out of every 10 students work a job while attending college. Many students take part in jobs on campus, which have come to a halt at this time. There are still some on-campus jobs that are still being managed from home, such as university technology employees.

“I have gotten more work done during the quarantine to the point my boss told me I am being too efficient. It took a little bit to get used to working online, there were some troubles to shoot through. I work on editing videos but once I figured it out it was smooth sailing. It feels like I am at work, but I’m just at home obviously,” Media tech at UW-Whitewater, Kaleb Kumpula said.

University of Wisconsin-Whitewater students have been very supportive of their peers online as we all continue to deal with COVID-19. Stay strong Warhawks.