On Jan. 10, classes resumed at Northwestern State University in the middle of the surge of the new COVID-19 variant, Omicron.

During the holiday break, NSU’s President Marcus Jones announced that facial masks are required for indoor events.

Jadie Badeaux, a junior secondary education major, is concerned about the lack of proper masking.

“I think a lot of people aren’t taking the mandate seriously,” Badeaux said. “Now that it is back, even in my classes, people aren’t wearing them.”

Hunter Hopkin, a junior hospitality and management major, said COVID-19 affected her college experience.

“It feels like at any moment we could go back to March 2020,” Hopkin said. “I never had a normal university experience, and I don’t know if I ever will.”

“I am a little worried about it especially since my family whom I don’t live in the same house with had Omicron,” Taylor Veillion, sophomore psychology major, said.

Badeaux said the pandemic is a difficult situation to handle.

“It is tricky,” Badeaux said. “With all of these new variants coming about, and people that are not getting vaccinated. It leaves room for more variants to occur.”

Veillion said if COVID-19 gets worse, they hope virtual schooling is accessible.

Hopkin wishes the general public would be more understanding.

“I am hoping in the future it may be a situation where everyone would need the booster,” Hopkin said.