By Bryant King; The Whetstone

Sophomore Alyssa Trasser has been spending more time at home this semester rather than going out. She doesn’t like wearing her mask.

“I haven’t gone out nearly as much,” she said. “I don’t like wearing a mask, so instead of going out to have fun I have found that I’ve only been going out for the necessities.”

Although many students and faculty know it is necessary, they find wearing masks irritating. Most people on campus are not worried about the way their mask looks, just how it works. Masks help stop the spread of COVID-19.

Trasser said she knows the masks are necessary.

Although they are annoying and really stuffy, they help prevent COVID-19,” she said.

Sports Information Director Allyson Mollung said she thinks wearing masks outside is unnecessary, but inside of the classrooms they are a necessary inconvenience

“I feel as though we don’t need to wear them if we are outside and socially distanced, but I agree with wearing them in the classroom and around the buildings when social distance can’t be followed,” she said.

The Centers for Disease Control said that everyone should wear a mask in public, with few exceptions.

“People who are engaged in high intensity activities, like running, may not be able to wear a mask if it causes difficulty breathing. If unable to wear a mask, consider conducting the activity in a location with greater ventilation and air exchange (for instance, outdoors versus indoors) and where it is possible to maintain physical distance from others.” (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/cloth-face-cover-guidance.html)

Sophomore Cameron Benfer wears a KN95 mask, one doctors recommend, but said they are hard to wear, especially for those who wear glasses. He said his lenses fog up.

“It’s also a pain remembering it everywhere you go,” he said. “And if you do happen to forget it, you have to go back and get it, so it’s just overall annoying.”

Sophomore Vincent Haass said the masks are both annoying and necessary.

“I honestly do not mind wearing a mask all the time because it slows the spread throughout our Wesley community,” he said.

Some students also said they want to wear a stylish mask.

Sophomore Jasmine Wagner said that she chooses her mask based on the design.

Jasmine Wagner

“I chose the ones that I liked from stores,” she said. “I got this floral one from ‘Vera Bradley,’ also one from Amazon that is gray and adjusts to your face.”

Some choose them because of the cost.

“I chose a mask that was fairly cheap because we had to get them in order to go places,” Haass said.

Trasser said the masks given out by Wesley aren’t good enough.

“They are very thin,” she said. “If Wesley was really concerned about our health, they would have bought better masks and given them to every student.”

The CDC recommends a mask with at least two layers of fabric. The single-layer fabric masks that Wesley gave out do not follow that recommendation.