Fear, anxiety over COVID-19 compound stress of finishing spring semester remotely

Sidewalk art around the Southeastern Louisiana College campus that individuals have started since quarantine to encourage those walking around the track.
Beth Dowdy/MCIR Journalism Lab

By Beth Dowdy
Student Correspondent

Sarah Hayek has returned to an old hobby, painting, to relieve stress." This is a time to readjust and reset and strip back down to what you love doing,” she said.
Photo by Reya Hayek

Sarah Hayek, a bio-chemistry major at Millsaps College, is typically a bubbly, outgoing person, but the constant images on television of people suffering from the coronavirus pandemic has dimmed her bright personality and made it difficult for her to complete her sophomore year.

“It is heartbreaking to see the pain that people are facing. I usually love to watch television at night, but I cannot bring myself to turn it on any longer,” Hayek says. “Seeing all the families in the news that are suffering is so upsetting.”

Many students at Millsaps, who were forced to finish out the school year remotely because of the pandemic, say they had difficulty keeping up with the demands of school and maintaining a positive mindset because of their fears and anxiety.

“I have been feeling very anxious. The way this is going to change all of our lives is so scary. I want to be aware of what’s going on, but I don’t know. Sometimes I just want nothing more than to get my mind off of it,” says Ruthie Kirkland, a psychology major.

Millsaps is offering free, remote counseling services to students through its counseling office to help them cope with this unprecedented crisis.  Students were also advised that they could reach out to an outside counselor since most of them are offering telehealth sessions and some have even waved copays.

Leah Hunter, Millsaps' student life director of inclusion and diversity, says students need to give themselves “grace” and allow themselves to feel anxious and scared.

She encourages students to take breaks from the news, family and social media, and find time to breathe, relax and give themselves a reset by taking a walk, meditating or simply sitting outside.

“Because we are so out of control during this pandemic, anxiety can rise quickly,” Hunter says, adding that students should keep a schedule. “Create and keep a schedule to help things feel predictable, managed and in control.”

Kirkland has been using some of these tools to relieve her fears. She runs daily and spends time in the sun.  “My new routine is I will go for a run and do some ab workouts in the park. I haven’t had this much time to go run since high school, but I find it’s important because I can hardly sleep at night. I am usually up until one or two if I spend all day sitting inside. That’s why I like to run.”

Hayek says her faith helps her get through the day. Since she can no longer attend church regularly due to social distancing, Hayek takes time to do morning devotions. She has also started painting again to relieve stress.

“I used to paint way more when I was younger, but when I got to college, I stopped a lot of my hobbies, because I never had time. I stopped painting as much, and I stopped praying as much. This is a time to readjust and reset and strip back down to what you love doing.”

Hayek, who lives in Greenville, Mississippi, also finds talking to her friends, especially her college suitmate, Grace Babin, comforting, as they are all grappling with similar emotions.

Babin agrees. “We went from being 10 feet away from each other at all times to now, almost 300 miles from one another,” says Babin from her home in New Orleans. “It has been so weird not going to her room every night to catch up on our day or talk about life. But FaceTime makes it a lot easier. We call each other every day.”

Despite the challenges that come with being under a state-mandated quarantine, Babin, Hayek and Kirkland realize that social distancing is important to keep everyone safe.

“I struggled with social distancing in the beginning,” Babin says, “but as the virus progressed, I started to understand the importance of it. It may seem difficult now, but we will be so thankful for the small sacrifice we are making.”

Students who are having difficulty coping can contact the counseling office at counseling@millsaps.edu.

This story was produced by MCIR's Journalism Lab at Millsaps College, part of a public service project initiated by Report for American and the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting, nonprofit news organizations dedicated to community journalism and empowering Mississippians in their communities through the use of investigative journalism. MCIR Investigative Reporter and Report for America corps member Shirley L. Smith is the lab instructor.

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