UC Santa Barbara goes back to in-person learning at end of month, vaccines also required
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - Classes at UC Santa Barbara are going back to normal. The school will resume in-person learning next week on January 31.
The Winter Quarter is halfway in the books. Students are already working on their midterms.
Ellie Somers and her roommate, Jenna Mamdani, are both UCSB Juniors. They brought their studies with them to lunch.
“[Midterms] haven’t started yet," said Somers. "Have my first one on Thursday. So I’m studying for that right now.”
Some, like Somers, didn't mind that the quarter started online.
“I personally like online because you get to pick your schedule and do what you want,” said Somers.
While others, like freshman Jackson Bloom, say it's been difficult.
“For some classes, you go, you don’t know what’s happening," said Bloom. "Like some assignments you don’t know when they’re going to be.”
UCSB stopped in-person classes and went virtual due to the latest surge in COVID-19 cases.
“We all got COVID at the same time," said Mamdani. "We’ve all had it twice at the same time. So we all kind of went through it together.”
Bloom added, “a lot of my friends in the past two weeks have gotten COVID.”
The university will resume in-person learning on Jan. 31 and it's telling students to get vaccinated and boosted.
Mamdani and Somers plan to get vaccinated next week.
"I have my appointment for next week,” said Mamdani.
“I’m scheduled to get my booster soon," said Somers. "So after that, I feel like I’m going to be fine with everything. But I’m not that nervous actually.”
UCSB is continuing a partnership with Santa Barbara County Public Health to extend the vaccine clinics through February. The school is requiring vaccines for students to be able to head back to the classroom.
Clinics are twice a week, Tuesdays and Fridays from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. in the Embarcadaro Hall parking lot. To signup visit MyTurn.ca.gov or UCSB website.
