angelo.jedidiah@guardian.co.tt
After over two years of virtual learning, the University of the West Indies St Augustine campus has finally reopened its gates to students.
Yesterday, many students flooded the campus to attend physical classes and engage in on-campus activities during Guild Fest 2022.
Guild Fest is a week of festivities where local and regional students are integrated into campus life.
While this annual event is usually meant for first-year students, for many students already registered, this semester marked the first time they were getting to see all that campus life was about.
Second-year student Elijah Riley shared his excitement about attending classes physically now, rather than being at home to learn and study.
“I guess you have to take your precautions, wear your masks and sanitise. But other than that, I feel relatively safe,” Riley said.
First-year engineering student Joshua Mohammed gave some insights into the classroom setup as students exercised basic health safety to protect themselves against the virus.
“It was a big classroom, so anyone could sit anywhere really. But most people distanced themselves properly and everyone had on masks,” Mohammed said after having his first class earlier in the day.
With the recent increase in COVID-19 numbers locally, the UWI has made it their mission to ensure health safety is practiced while on campus.
According to Student Guild president Kobe Sandy, the campus has now enforced a mask-wearing mandate while indoors and still encourages vaccination throughout the university’s population.
“It is really your personal role that will come when it comes to going places, going to various parties, going to various events that campus will have during this time. And, of course, there is a protocol in place with HSU,” Sandy said.
Sandy added that personal responsibility is the code that students on campus are encouraged to abide by as they begin this new semester.
