We can officially say that another school year is in the books!

This semester flew by. Since January, the days of the month flew by and when it only seemed like a couple days passed, here came February, then March and so on.

Since the beginning of the semester, I was silently hoping that this semester would fly by. Not for any bad reason but probably the same reason as mostly everybody here. We’re all tired and burnt out.

Students, including faculty and other workers on campus, definitely deserve a break from this semester and entire school year, especially since this year was a road full of twists and turns.

Since the beginning of last semester, WKU had the mask mandate where everybody on campus had to wear a mask in any public space including inside DSU, classrooms, buildings and buses.

We all dealt with that all last semester and it was a struggle. Forgetting your mask in your dorm or home, having the urge to pull it down or take it off anywhere you are or glasses fogging up everytime you breathe and more.

We were all used to that being the new normal, but most of us wanted everything to go back to the old normal: no masks, no mandate, no six feet apart rule.

We got our wish when on Feb. 25, President Caboni announced through email that the mask mandate will be lifted for all public spaces except for transportation services.

A lot of us felt relief and joy knowing that we won’t have to wear a mask anymore besides on transportation. 

I was used to wearing a mask everywhere and everyday since my junior year of high school, so it was definitely a new normal for me. So, once I got the email that Friday afternoon, I was shocked, surprised, happy and relieved.

A couple days later, even though it was lifted, I continued to wear one. I decided to stop wearing one after a while and even though it felt weird at first, I got used to it. I thought it would be hard adjusting to life without a mask, but for me, it wasn’t.

That was a major change in the WKU community.

This semester started off cold and wintery with snow days on Feb. 3-4 as we got weather winter alerts. Since then, we’ve had on and off cold and hot weather, but that’s Kentucky for you.

More recently, we’ve been experiencing beautiful weather, especially these last few weeks of school.

Days of sitting on the south lawn and relaxing, putting up hammocks at centennial mall or anywhere in the sun, eating with your friends outside, or just taking walks around campus and enjoying the sun.

With summer coming up fast, we’ll have plenty of weather like that to enjoy.

One thing I do want to say is that I applaud everybody for making it through the year. It was definitely an emotional and tough one.

There were a lot of things that happened throughout both semesters, bad and good, and no matter what it was, we’re all strong to get through it.

I’m proud of you. I’m proud of you for getting through this year. I’m proud of you for making it.

I’m proud of you for getting that good grade. I’m proud of you for passing the class. I’m proud of you for trying to stay happy. I’m proud of you for being strong.

I’m proud of you no matter who you are or what you’ve been through.

I know that this semester, and this year, must’ve been hard and I feel that. We made it though. A couple more days and we can rest and relax. We deserve it.
Commentary writer DJ Stover can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @DeJayeJJ.