 I'm Peggy Reimer, and my son, AJ Smith, is currently a freshman at the University of Alabama. My name is AJ Smith. I am studying political science here, and I'm a freshman. Well, sending a child 900 miles from home for college is a little anxiety provoking under the best of situations or conditions. I was concerned about the COVID pandemic, especially just the distance and having him so far away. And if something would, if he would become ill, how would he be cared for? Who would care for him? What that would mean for his education? I would say, like, yeah, I think it was probably a pretty normal reaction for people to come here, like a little bit concerned at least, you know, for a little bit of reservation. The University had such a nice plan in place as far as just contingencies to meet every part of that student's needs if they would become ill or need to be isolated in terms of educationally, you know, providing them a case manager who would check in with them, medical services, food services, counseling services if needed. I mean, there was just, I was really impressed with the comprehensiveness of the plan to meet students' needs, so that put my mind at ease. I think, like, the masks help. That certainly makes me feel a lot more safe. The hand sanitizer everywhere, the, like, markings in the dining halls, like, everything that the University is doing to try and prevent the spread of it has really, like, for me, and I know for some of my friends I've talked about it, like, it's really helped us kind of, like, you know, feel a little bit more safe. You know, it's very important during any time, especially a time like this, that they make friends and keep in touch with their peers, because that's such an important thing at this stage of their lives. And so the advice I gave them was just to, you know, follow the rules, do your best, and be creative in seeking ways to connect with others. You know, I've been able to meet people, like, across the hall, wearing masks, of course, and we have to hang out on the side if we want to hang out, like, but we've been doing okay. We, like, yesterday I went to the quad, we played spike ball, going for walks outside, all that stuff. So, you know, it wasn't exactly what I imagined college being, but it's not far off, you know. As a mom, that makes me feel so good, you know, that he's just so happy, and so he feels like he's part of a community, and that's really what you want your child to feel when they go away from home.