Not only will I be returning to Florida Gulf Coast University in the Fall for school, but I also will be working. It's a scary time for everybody, with a pandemic raging across the world, but to be going back to school during it (in a state with some of the worst cases) is nothing short of terrifying.

However, they're making it a lot easier to stay calm during this new transition.

For starters, masks are going to be required everywhere on campus, including walking around in the public space of the dorms. This prevents the spread of infection if anyone gets sick. A free reusable mask is offered for students to pickup with their ID.

Additionally, each person will be able to have their own separate room. Even two person rooms have been divided up so that every person has their own private bedroom space.

The university also cleared out an entire residence building for anyone who receives a positive test to quarantine in if they have no where else to stay temporarily.

There are also five types of classes to be offered in the Fall: traditional, online, synchronous, hybrid, and blendflex. Each offer their own style of teaching. Traditional is just a regular in-person class, online is a class through Canvas with no designated online meeting time, synchronous is an online course with a specific time of day for meetings or video call lessons, hybrid classes have both online and in-person instruction, and blendflex classes are almost the same as hybrid classes except they cycle the in-person instruction in groups so that way it's easier to social distance.

These are just a few main points I heard from my first work meeting, as well as FGCU's website, but they are definitely reassuring during a time like this. It's really great to know that even though cases are still at large, FGCU is doing their best to return things to normal for us while still keeping us safe. It's times like these that I know I made the right decision in picking my school.

Go Eagles!