Winter break is the time of year where students get two weeks off of school and forget all that they have learned to celebrate the holidays. Usually, during this break, people would celebrate by visiting local places in their area, partaking in indoor activities with others, or traveling to see friends and family.
This year, of course, is different. Public health experts have advised the general public everyone to stay home and only go out as necessary. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states that traveling or gathering with others can hoist the chances of getting or spreading COVID-19 or even the flu. They suggested that everyone question themselves about what is best for their families and gave instructions on how to travel and celebrate safely.
Despite the CDCs instructions, some have decided to travel anyway. During a recent social media poll, around 66% of students are not traveling, while the other 34% are traveling this winter break. However, those who are leaving the state agree with those who are not that if anyone is traveling out of the state they should do it very cautiously and follow safety guidelines.
“I am traveling to Utah to see my family. It’s going to be a family reunion that hasn’t been done in years. My thoughts on people traveling are that it should be done cautiously and safely, taking the right precautions in order to not get infected. Other than that, being prepared and following what needs to be done, people should be fine traveling to where their hearts desire,” said Melany Cardenas, a sophomore at MLEC in the practical nursing strand.
A lot of people this year had planned, before the pandemic debuted, for these winter holidays and were not able to travel within or out of the country. Some students at MLEC, who already had plans for traveling this break, are still traveling; while a couple of others decided to leave the state just because of a moment’s thought.
“We usually traveled to see my family in Bolivia, but it was difficult to achieve this year due to very strict regulations over there, so we decided to go somewhere new like Tennessee. We are traveling because it was something we had planned since before COVID was a thing, and we are going with two other families. Still, they are related and got tested before traveling,” said Samantha Medrano, a senior at MLEC in the Engineering program.
Very few people don’t blame the pandemic as it’s the reason for canceling their plans, and a lot of people do not like the idea of traveling — though, they are not entirely against it. During these trying times, students and their loved ones have to make the difficult decision on if they should travel or not. If they travel, they are more prone to the disease but can compete in fun activities and visit family and friends in person. While if they don’t travel, they are less susceptible to the disease but can quickly become bored. Let’s leave it to this assertion from a student at MLEC.
“People who are going to travel soon need to be extremely careful and take the necessary precautions when going around in new areas with new people. The virus isn’t slowing down just because the holidays are coming up, and if anything, I think now is the time more than ever to really take care of yourself and those around you,” stated Justin Franco, a junior in the applied technology strand.
“If you are traveling, I would simply just heavily advise you to stay as safe as possible when doing so.”
