As of October 19, schools and businesses have been closed, and yet there are still increases in COVID-19 cases in San Diego. SDSU students have had to deal with their own outbreaks which have resulted in further shifts to virtual learning and stricter rules on campus.

SDSU has enacted several protocols for on-campus activities, including a campus mask mandate, temperature checks for all employees, social distancing requirements in all university spaces, including decreased housing density in dorms, and enhanced routine cleaning. Aly Gilkerson, a senior at SDSU, says that the spikes in COVID-19 cases are likely coming from small, non-school-related gatherings.

“People are not taking social distancing measures when in small groups and are also having gatherings that are larger than the safe amount,” Gilkerson said. “I’ve heard that people are at gatherings with no masks and are not 6 feet apart.”

In May 2020, it was announced that classes would be held mainly online. The number of students enrolled in on-campus courses since then, has changed from approximately 6,200 to 2,100 in response to case spikes.

SDSU junior Molly Jones has discussed how this could relate to the motivation behind students risking their health and safety.

“I’m sure it can be very isolating to live with people you don’t necessarily know very well during a pandemic and wouldn’t be surprised if that was their motivation,” Jones said. “As for [the] other grades I’m sure it’s to gain some sense of normalcy during this time or to make up for losing other aspects of the college experience.”

Life on campus has changed drastically since social distancing guidelines were put into place. Jones compares the current campus culture to that of previous years.

“No one is walking to classes or club meetings, so that’s very strange,” Jones said. “I also feel that since [most] sports games aren’t happening it’s very hard for school spirit to stay as high as it has been in normal years.”

Carlsbad High School senior, Natalie Parker, says that the case spikes at SDSU will not change her mind about applying to the school.

“I don’t think the case spikes at SDSU are going to affect my application process just because I am hopeful that by this time next year, that won’t be [an issue],” Parker said.

With all that has been happening due to the pandemic, life has been very different for students on campus. All of the guidelines put in place due to COVID-19 have changed what students were hoping for out of their college experience.

“Personally this was hard for me to accept because this is my senior year but I also understand this is for the greater good,” Gilkerson said. “Nothing is going to improve through these times unless we adhere to the social distancing rules.”