Waking up to a blaring alarm clock at 8 a.m. and opening your laptop to a Zoom class is what most students around the country are used to by now. 

Nonetheless, going back to face-to-face classes and events has always been the goal for educational institutions. And next semester, it looks like we’re going to reach that goal.

ULM released a statement March 11 saying we will proceed with in-person classes in the fall of 2021. 

Shane Dykes, the environmental health and safety officer at ULM, said there’s no way of knowing what the case count this fall will be.

But we can safely assume the amount of positive cases will continue to decrease while the amount of people vaccinated increases.

To transition back safely and carefully, ULM will abide by the information that the CDC, the UL System and the state of Louisiana issue concerning COVID-19.

John Herrock, a toxicology instructor and EHS officer, is ready to get back into the classroom.

“I have no issues with teaching face-to-face during the fall 2021 semester,” Herrock said. “I enjoy interacting with students in the classroom. I feel very engaged with the students that attend face-to-face.”

Herrock also believes that the class average grades for his exams will rise back up similar to how it was pre-COVID. Ever since he began lecturing on Zoom, he’s had low class average grades.

Alfred Henderson, a junior pre-nursing major, is ready to be back in the classroom too. While he’s skeptical about how safe it will be, he’s interested to see how next semester will resemble fall 2019.

“I’m excited to go to on-campus events, but I am cautious about how safe it will be,” Henderson said.

According to Dykes, wearing a mask, getting a vaccine and continuing to social distance can help maintain and decrease the number of COVID cases that may arrive on campus.

ULM will continue to administer vaccines when more are available on campus through the College of Pharmacy clinic.