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With all of the news and happenings with COVID-19, this is a scary time for students. We are unsure about what our future is going to look like: will we transition well to all online learning? Will we get to keep our jobs? Will we be able to pay for food, for housing, for other necessities? Will we graduate on time?

The support that professors across campus have given to students is genuinely touching. We have had a lot of issues this year with faculty, and it would be easy to lose hope. The COVID-19 virus, however, is truly showing who we have as professors at Ball State. So many of our professors have worked hard this semester, and this move online is just as painful for them as it is for us. But in every class I have been in, the faculty has been so compassionate and so concerned about their students. From offering to help personally with food insecurity, to providing a calm environment in which to share our fears and anxieties, to helping students develop self-care plans, they have been making an important difference in these trying times. They are helping students think through every worry and every concern about the virus, the move online, and what this all means in our personal lives. Their support is impressive, unmatched, and so greatly appreciated. While not every professor may be as compassionate as the next one, I am grateful for the ones that I've had and that my friends have had.

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And to those caring professors specifically: you are all making a difference in our lives, and we will miss seeing you during the week. Thank you for your time and your hard work. Thank you for building a classroom environment that makes us think. Thank you for developing courses that challenge us, teach us, and inspire us. Your work does not go unnoticed, and you do not go unappreciated. Please remember that while we appreciate the concern you have for us, we are also concerned for you. Take care of yourselves. This is a hard time, and we all need our support systems.

Please be patient with your professors. Please be patient with the university. Everyone is doing their best to keep us safe and healthy, and while the lack of information can be frustrating, please remember everyone is doing their best.

Thank you,
Mary Lowry
Ball State Class of 2021, Rhetoric and Composition major

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