Dear Houston,
You’re Still The Place To Be BY ANNA BAKER
I
f you pay attention to the news, it’s hard to not have a negative mindset towards the world. The pandemic goes on, human rights continue to be violated, natural disasters keep ruining lives and more. Although a new semester has just started, it’s completely valid to struggle with finding motivation for classes while the state of the world continues to escalate. However, the city of Houston is still a great place to be right now even amongst all the troubling updates of the world that we’re reminded of each day. Being a major city, Houston continues to struggle with the COVID-19 pandemic, but we fortunately have a quality medical infrastructure to face it. Even as a non-STEM major it’s cool knowing that my city has the largest medical center in the entire world. The Texas Medical Center is known for its cancer research at the MD Anderson Cancer Center, which has been ranked the top cancer care center in the country by the U.S. News & World Report’s annual “Best Hospitals” survey. In fact, many of the hospitals in the Texas Medical Center in Houston rank very high in the country. If you need a doctor while in Houston, you’re definitely in the right place.
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COOGLIFE // August 2020
Harris County’s mask order helped make Houston a model for other Texas cities and counties when it came to handling the pandemic. Although the Houston case numbers are still high, we are the fourth most populated city in the U.S. after all, we are trying to keep those numbers from rising. Things can be pretty scary in a big city during a pandemic, but it feels good knowing that your town and its citizens are doing what they can to help. Speaking of which, local volunteers recently set up a community fridge in the Third Ward — which is a huge win for fighting food insecurity in the area and reducing food waste. There are many people that are food insecure year round, but after the pandemic many have been left jobless and homeless. A community fridge is a great way to help make food more accessible to our local community members no matter their financial status. Our University has also not been afraid to show kindness to its students and community, especially compared to other colleges out there during the coronavirus pandemic. UH didn’t hesitate to give us refunds for housing and parking last semester when effects of the pandemic began to hit the area. They also gave students the pass/fail grading option not only for the Spring 2019 semester but also for the Fall 2020 semester for undergraduates to
