Student Life in Hotels

Josh Wilkerson

Many things have changed due to the Covid-19 pandemic to bring students back to school. One of the biggest adjustments was spreading students out in hotels across Frankfort to distance the students from each other and limit the dorm capacity. The university’s authority and staff have made this transition as easy as possible. A shuttle runs every thirty minutes from the hotel to campus and back. Also, all the classes are hybrid this semester, so students have the choice of taking the course online or in person. Just like everything else in 2020, Kentucky State Students have had to adjust to a new normal. A few students gave a synopsis of their experience attending college while living in different hotels off campus.

Jon Adams, a junior at Kentucky State, is staying in Best Western Parkside Inn on the east side of Frankfort. “It has been a very different experience staying off campus at a hotel,” Jon said, “I have my own car, so it makes it easier, but I still wished I lived on campus. I stayed on campus my first two years, and compared to that, it just does not seem like I’m getting the same ‘college experience’ this year. I understand why they spread us out, but I just think it’d be better if we were still on campus.”

Jah Bennett, also a junior at Kentucky State, is staying at the Capitol Plaza in downtown Frankfort. “It hasn’t been too bad,” Jah said, “it’s basically like living off campus is your own apartment. You just have to commute back and forth to the school. Sometimes it does feel real cramped up in the hotel room though, you wish you could escape, but there is nothing to do. I know some people are losing their mind in the hotel. But these are the circumstances we have to endure to successfully go to school and be as safe as possible.”

For some, it has been a difficult adjustment to life in the hotel, but students are doing their best adapting and trying to stay safe, which is most important. Along with other safety guidelines set in place like required masks and practicing social distancing, the university is doing its best job dealing with the housing situation. The school is striving to keep the safety of its students as the top priority. It has taken everyone’s effort and resiliency to keep the campus as safe and clean as possible. Living in a hotels is just one sacrifice students have had to make.