The Current | Vol. 31 Issue 23

February 23, 2021 | nsucurrent.nova.edu 10 Opinions Following COVID guidelines on campus It is very important to follow the COVID-19 guidelines that NSU has put in place so we can protect our families. If we don’t follow the guidelines, then we are putting more people at risk of catching the virus. For instance, I’ve noticed students not wearing their masks around others on campus and I have witnessed a great amount of people walking around without their masks in public. Masks have become like another piece of clothing and some people still refuse to wear it. According to the “Return of the Sharks” guidelines, everyone is required to comply and if anyone violates these guidelines, they will be counseled by the Division of Student Affairs (DOSA). BlendFlex was a fantastic idea that made it easier for students to take classes and follow the guidelines. I utilize BlendFlex and so does my sister, so we won’t risk exposing our family to the virus. In fact, my brother in elementary school attends school online because there are a lot of students getting exposed. I’ve stayed socially active by joining online events through Zoom and I plan on attending more. Students can also create study groups on Zoom with their classmates to get to know them and study for exams. It’s so important to wear face masks, stay six feet apart, wash your hands, avoid touching your face and disinfect your surfaces. My family followed guidelines their workplaces and schools put in place, but they still got COVID-19. It was not until we found out that my aunt and uncle did not follow the guidelines that we realized why we all got COVID-19. According to John Hopkins Blooming School of Public Health, “We must work together and do it all—wear masks, practice physical distance, stay home if unwell and clean our hands regularly—to turn this pandemic around.” The guidelines are there to help everyone. Thisistheyeartostartappreciatingyourself more than you used to. After everything that has happened, self-love has declined exponentially. According to Eric Thompson, an associate professor and clinical psychologist, there have been surveys done and there has been a high percentage of people with low self-love. I know I went through a depression during quarantine. I was slowly hating myself more and I noticed others falling into a rut. People are slowly losing themselves and are separating themselves from everything around them. Stop beating yourself down and start building yourself up. When you beat yourself down you can lose relationships with people that actually matter. I was hurting myself more by disconnecting from my friends and family. It wasn’t until I connected with my loved ones again that I started feeling better. When discussing spending time with my family and if it helps improve self-love, Thomspon put things into perspective for me. I thought spending time around people that encourage you can increase your self-love, but Thompson explained that it depends on the person if the interaction can help with self-love. Sometimes, people need to be alone and read an interesting book. With the pandemic, we may have started hating the person we see in the mirror every day. According to patient.info, a NHS England certified website, therapists say we should challenge our negative beliefs to make us feel better. Make a list of anything negative about yourself, and for each negative, write down a positive. Then, you have to prove each positive/negative criticism about yourself. I started this technique a few days ago and I cried. I cried out of relief that everything negative that I thought about myself wasn’t true. Eric and Isabel Thompson also had advice on challenging negative beliefs.They stated that it was an interesting activity to increase people’s self-love. Isabel Thompson did warn, “If the negative thoughts keep returning to your mind, reach out to someone for help.” Boosting your self-esteem is hard because there will always be a little voice in your head that will tell you, “You’re not good enough,” but eventually. the voice will die down because you will finally be yourself and that is beautiful. By: Ashley Diaz Contributing Writer The time to love yourself is now By: Ashley Diaz Contributing Writer We need to look out for the well-being of others because in the end, all we have is each other. COVID-19 affects your health gravely, it affects your breathing intensely and the guidelines are there to lower the chance of anyone contracting or being exposed to the virus. PHOTO PRINTED PERMISSION BY E.COWAN Friends in the Don Taft University Center wear masks and social distance while studying.