Opinion: Masks Make It Impossible to Hear My Professor, Also Being Asleep

On the first day of fall quarter, I walked into class five to forty minutes late and saw a sea of masks — blue, black, white, the lingerie one, etc. I got the message and put on my own mask. You go to the castle, you gotta pay the king.

But why does my Professor have to wear a mask? He needs to speak! I could hear him at the beginning, but his voice started to get fainter, and I just could not understand anything he was saying. Coincidentally, my eyelids were heavy, the chair was super comfortable, and I was leaning against the wall like I was in an airplane window seat.

Because he wore a mask, I didn’t wake up to his voice. Usually, my sleep gets interrupted by the booming, echoing voices of my professors, but this year I have been forced to stay asleep and miss vital learning opportunities. Even on my sleepiest days in years past, I was still able to subconsciously absorb key information.

I implore UCLA to reverse this policy and once again make nap time a time for knowledge. Fiat Lux, after all.