Spring on Campus

Spring has finally come to campus this week! It is certainly a great time to get outdoors and shake off the winter weather. There are plenty of things to do on and off campus to help you come out of hibernation. Located all around campus are plenty of picnic tables to spend some time studying outdoors or just relax with friends. Several coffee shops are open and within walking distance of campus: Keats Coffee, Downtown Perk, Vine’s Bakery and Goldberry Roasting Company. These also make great study spaces if you are looking to leave your dorm for a while. Places like Whit’s Frozen Custard and Eva’s Treats serve some great desserts to check out and spice up your weekend. This might be a perfect time to try out some restaurants in town if you haven't already. A-Town Tap, Ohio Fire, Uniontown, Ashland Drive In or Lotus are all available to grab a bite this weekend. There are plenty of things to get into this weekend that can help break up your midterm studying and give you time to relax!

- Rachel

Life as a College Student in Quarantine

It was an extremely difficult time for me to be in a two week quarantine. It was the beginning of spring semester and I had to start out all online for the beginning, what a way to set the tone for the next sixteen weeks. It is so easy to slip into a state of depression, anxiousness, and loneliness. But, I am here to let you know even though it was an incredibly tough time, I had some amazing people to support me and encourage me along the way. My friends, my teammates and coaches, my family, my professors, and even faculty members at AU. They all gave me words of encouragement and even ideas of how to stay positive in a difficult situation. I want to share what I did in quarantine, besides classwork.

Activities to do in quarantine:

• Read. Any book you want - I prefer the feel good, encouraging Christian books. Anything Lysa TerKeurst or Sadie Robertson are my favorite!

• Do yoga. Relax your breathing and your muscles. It helps with stress and anxiety.

• Find a new hobby! I love to paint, and I did a lot of painting and coloring during quarantine to relieve some stress and enjoy my time during the “calm” of the storm.

• Binge a new show on Netflix. There are so many shows and movies on Netflix - pick a good one and watch all the episodes! I highly recommend New Girl or All-American.

• Have a self-care day. Treat yourself to an at-home spa day. Facial treatments, repainting your nails, trying out a new hair shampoo - basically whatever you want to do to just relax.

• Reorganize yourself! Whether that be cleaning your room, moving your room furniture around, or even writing everything down in your planner. It was a good time to schedule out my days and get myself ready to be back on campus.

A two-week quarantine away from friends, family, and even school is hard. I love being around people and finding some sort of normalcy in a crazy time. So during those stressful two weeks, I took time for myself. I reached out to so many people just to have an interaction or conversation. Talking to them helped me get through such a hard time. If you need to talk to someone - there will always be someone ready to listen and help you through. Don’t think you are alone. Looking back to my two week quarantine, I can say I put myself first. I took time to take care of myself, rest up, and relax. I made sure to keep up with the activity ideas to help with my mental health, too!

- Shila