Sac State students use campus closure time to sleep, study

Campus will remain closed for a fourth day due to poor air quality

Brittney Delgado - The State Hornet

Campus will remain closed for a fourth day due to poor air quality. With the rough transition, it seems that most students are making the most of the situation and are appreciative that Sac State is closed.

Brittney Delgado, Arts & Entertainment editor
November 15, 2018

Sacramento State has been officially closed for nearly a week due to poor air quality caused by smoke from the Camp Fire, leaving some students worried and others relaxing.

Some students are spending time volunteering in Paradise and Chico where the fire has had the most impact, while others are going home early for Thanksgiving or catching up on sleep.

With the unexpected break from classes, students are making the most of the situation and are appreciative that Sac State’s administration decided to close campus.

“I think it’s great that the school is putting students’ health first instead of forcing students to brave the smoke,” said Jose Villanueva, a Sac State communication studies major. “It may affect most class schedules, but you can always make up for it.”

Villanueva is taking the days off to catch up on homework, study for upcoming tests and do chores.

“[I’m] just making the most of the situation,” Villanueva said.

Although classes were cancelled, Villanueva still has to report to work.

“Hopefully everyone does take this seriously and recognize the reason why we don’t have school,” Villanueva said. “I just encourage everyone to stay safe and if able to, help out victims with donations, clothes or whatever they can.”

Ricky Doan, an international business major, said he is worried about how the rest of the semester will resume.

“I’m kind of worried about the stuff we’re missing for class,” Doan said. “How are teachers going to make it up? Everything was so abrupt, right before Thanksgiving too.”

Doan said he has been using this time to catch up on sleep, but also to get his homework done.

“I am actively trying to keep up with what needs to be done with certain classes,” Doan said.

Doan said he also feels like he isn’t doing much besides going to work and completing homework.

“Since it’s really unhealthy outside and we don’t have school, I feel like I have a lot of free time, but it doesn’t have a purpose because most of my time is dedicated to school,” Doan said.

When he’s not working on homework or going to work, he is playing League of Legends.

Ashley Hoffman, a pre-nursing major, said campus closures have come with pros and cons.

“I’ve been able to focus on my mental health and relax more,” Hoffman said. “I honestly do think it has done favors for me, having this time off.”

However, she said she is also nervous about how it will jeopardize her class work.

“This week was the week I really told myself I needed to stay on top of things, because of all the work coming up,” Hoffman said.

Hoffman is also taking this time off to gather donations for the victims of the fire.

“I took a few hours to go through all my belongings to find things to donate,” Hoffman said.

Giovanni Lopez, also a pre-nursing major, said he is happy that campus is closed, because it shows that Sac State cares about the health of its students.

“It shows that they care about our safety and the faculty’s safety as well,” Lopez said.

Lopez said he has taken this time to catch up on sleep and get ahead on assignments.

“It feels good not having to wake up at 7 [a.m.]  and get to school an hour before classes start,” Lopez said.

Although he appreciates campus being closed because of the poor air quality, he understands that people’s lives have been affected and it is nothing to celebrate.

“People are celebrating over that, which is sad,” Lopez said.

An email from Sac State President Robert Nelsen said, due to poor air quality, campus will remain closed Friday as well. The school has not released any further information if campus will remain closed during the days leading up to Thanksgiving.