Since August 2020, the UW campus has been open to students and faculty with the policy that all individuals wear a mask when inside buildings.
For the last year and a half, to be on campus, students, faculty, and staff have been wearing masks. This has resulted in side-effects on the UW community.
Junior Kiki Templeton, a barista at the Rolling Mill cafe, shared her experience of wearing a mask while at work.
“If it gets really hot in here [behind the coffee bar], which it does, your breath kind of gets taken away and your skin gets flushed,” Templeton said. “Another aspect of wearing masks is that after eating something, that’s all back in your face.”
Templeton mentioned some of the cosmetic concerns that stem from wearing a mask.
“My skin certainly has broken out more often since the pandemic started,” Templeton said. “I used to have very clear skin, and now unfortunately I have to do more to protect my skin.”
Outside of physical drawbacks, there are some practical issues that stem from constant mask-wearing.
“It’s a lot to be wearing a mask all day long. I have glasses, and it’s such a pain–like I got contacts because I literally wasn’t able to see in class,” Junior Megan Switzer said.
Working out at Half Acre has posed issues for students as well.
“I also go to the gym a lot,” Switzer said, “so working out with a mask on is pretty difficult. I normally have to take it off because otherwise, I can’t breathe.”
Templeton and Switzer also shared sentiments about constantly needing a mask in-hand.
“I always just forget my mask. I had to go back to my house today because I forgot one,” Switzer said. “I have so many of the disposable ones now too because I’m constantly forgetting them.”
For instructors and students alike, wearing masks while in class can also pose issues.
Seth Swanner, an English professor, shared some of his experience as an in-person instructor throughout the pandemic.
“For me, I think a lot of my mask fatigue has sort of evaporated over the, now, years of wearing masks,” Swanner said. “Early on though, I struggled to adapt to some aspects of wearing a mask often.”
“Last year, I taught a three-hour Shakespeare course and it was then that I started to feel more of the physical effects,” Swanner said.
Speaking through masks is also a common issue for instructors and students.
“I think for some quieter instructors, the need to project so students could hear what is being said was a common issue,” Swanner said.
Swanner also mentioned some of the obstacles relating to social interaction.
“While I think that it has less to do with masks and more the transition from Zoom to in-person,” Swanner said. “I think there were still some disconnects and awkward moments in the classroom, and masks might contribute to that”
