AUSTIN, Texas — The University of Texas at Austin tops a list of American universities battling COVID-19, with over 400 confirmed cases, according to a recent New York Times report.
The school is asking students coming back to town this fall to quarantine before they get here.
Face masks are mandatory, with only a few exceptions, and the university will be limiting the crowd size at football games. UT is also developing an app that will help track outbreaks and symptoms, which is currently being beta-tested by staff.
With less than a month to go before the start of the fall semester, one incoming freshman is hoping for the best as she prepares to move to campus.
“I just kind of fell in love with UT," said 18-year-old Emma Vincent, who has been looking forward to starting her first year of college at UT Austin.
After the COVID-19 pandemic derailed the end of her senior year of high school, she was worried the same would happen in the fall.
“I think that was like my biggest worry was not being able to go to the dorms and not be able to live in Austin,” she said.
With one in-person class, one hybrid, and two online, Vincent still plans to move into the dorms.
Although UT is asking all students to self-quarantine for 14 days before returning to campus, Vincent says she's not optimistic all students will do so.
“My first thought was, I'm going to do it, but I'm worried about everybody else, because I know like some people aren't taking it as serious and some people, kind of are still going about their lives like it's kind of just normal," said Vincent.
When asked for comment, UT did not say how it will be enforcing the self-quarantine recommendation. The Austin campus recently topped a survey of American universities with the highest number of COVID-19 cases. While the university has pushed back on the findings, Vincent says she’ll still take extra precautions.
“I know I'm going to be wearing a mask everywhere. I'm going to be washing my hands, I'm going to be taking all the precautions I can," said Vincent. "I think that's the only thing that's like keeping me sane is like, I'm going to be safe.”
Vincent is fortunate to already know her roommate, and their two other suitemates happen to be good friends of hers.
She said because they’ll be sharing a bathroom, they've all agreed on the safety precautions they’ll be taking while at school, like wearing masks and social distancing.
“I feel a little bit safer knowing that like, if they're doing what I'm doing, then it's all collectively kind of agreed upon that if one of us gets it, we're not going anywhere like we're gonna stay in our dorm," said Vincent.
Vincent says she doesn’t plan on sitting in dining halls to eat, or going to football games in the fall, but she’s staying optimistic.
“I'm hopeful because I'm going to be there for four years, and this pandemic is going to go away eventually, it's not going to last these four years," said Vincent.
Once the pandemic is over, she says she can’t wait to make the most of her time on campus.
“Once everything is back on like, I'm gonna go full out like I'm going to do everything I can. I'm going to meet as many people as I can. And I feel like it really just puts it in perspective, like, I'm not going to waste these four years," said Vincent.