CYDNEY WILLIAMS
reporter

TCC students are considering the risk of celebrating the holidays with their families and planning accordingly.

“I will not be celebrating with family this year,” student Eric Norris said. “I will celebrate the holidays virtually, either by using Discord or Zoom.”

He said he fears catching COVID-19 from family members or exposing them.

Student Julia Antu said she usually cel- ebrates Thanksgiving and Christmas with her grandparents in a small West Texas town called Sweetwater, but her family has had some hesitation with traveling.

“Since my grandparents are older, my family decided we will just celebrate the holi- days at home,” she said.

Student Andrea Cross said her family will celebrate the holidays a little differently

and with fewer people, but it will still be special.

“We’ll have my immediate family together for a meal and face timing with the family members from out of state and the ones unable to make it,” Cross said.

Cross said students should be safe with their holiday plans but not let the fear of COVID-19 stop them from being with their family. She plans to travel the first week of December but will quarantine before and after she travels.

“The risk of traveling doesn’t scare me at all, we’re extremely safe, and I won’t let fear stand in our way of doing something we enjoy,” she said.

Norris said he won’t be traveling anytime soon because he feels Americans proved to be unwilling to sacrifice the comforts of their customary behaviors in order to save lives.

“The risk of traveling is far too great right now for me to risk my own health and

the health of everyone I subsequently came into contact with,” Norris said. “I think a post-trip quarantine would be the only smart and decent thing to do.”

Norris said the numbers of those infected with COVID-19, and the resulting deaths, will dramatically spike in the weeks after the holiday season.

“If everyone were taking this seriously and properly appreciated the health risks of the disease, then I’d feel more relaxed about gathering with them,” he said. “I’m afraid that disinformation has convinced many that COVID is no worse than the common flu, and thus they are more likely to spread it through carelessness.”

Antu said COVID-19 has the potential to get worse during the holiday season, but she understands why people are willing to take the risk.

“I also think people have pretty much the same mindset as my family when it comes

to trying not to travel anywhere,” Antu said. “The last thing people want to do is not be able to spend the holiday with their family.”

Most people want to be with their family for the holidays but she wants to keep her family safe, unfortunately under the circum- stances technology is the best way to see her family and keep them safe, she said.

But Norris said it’s important we all forego our traditional Christmas gatherings this year because each of us have a responsibility to our families and our communities to lessen the duration and impact of this pandemic.

“I think we need to avail ourselves of the incredible technology at this moment in time like Zoom,” Norris said. “Technology allows us to have non-physical, face-to-face interactions with people who are geographically removed from us.”

Cross said she hopes other students celebrating the holiday with their families in person are on the safe side.