How can I stay healthy and social distance while moving into my Full Sail apartment?

Moving into an apartment without catching something is hard to do in the best of times, since with going to a new place, you're exposed to a lot of new people and new germs. As you know, these certainly aren't the best of times; however, that doesn't mean you're a lost cause.

Many of the apartments near Full Sail have taken extra precautions around their communities to limit the spread of the virus, especially when you are interacting with communal spaces, but there are still several things you can do to stay healthy and social distance while you settle into your new place.

• Wear your mask. Even for those of us born and raised in Florida, the temperatures outside can be stifling, but you still want to keep your mask on. This is particularly important if you can't maintain social distancing measures, which is difficult to do in communal spaces and with other people moving into their Full Sail apartments; the CDC highly recommends wearing a mask any time you're in "public settings and when around people who don't live in your household." Just make sure you also wear your sunscreen while moving in - you don't want a mask tan line.
• Wash your hands regularly. While you move into one of the student apartments in Orlando, there is no getting around the many shared surfaces you will interact with. From picking up your keys at the front office to opening however many doors it takes until you're through yours, you will touch a lot of things. To avoid then touching your face with dirty hands, you'll want to make sure you're washing your hands throughout your move. The CDC states on their site that the most effective way to do this is by scrubbing them for 20 seconds with soap and water, but hand sanitizer is a good substitute if you can't get a hand wash in.
• Set apartment ground rules. If you're planning on living alone in one of the apartments near Full Sail, you get to make the house rules all by yourself with policies you feel comfortable with. However, if you're moving into a 3-bedroom apartment with other people, you want to use move-in as an opportunity to discuss how social distancing and other coronavirus-related measures can be implemented in a way everyone is okay with. Discuss house policies around visitors, as well as a shared space schedule, to help keep you healthy through the end of your lease.
• Stay updated. I recommend bookmarking Full Sail University's COVID-19 updates. As of writing, the campus is closed to most students, "except for modified in-person instruction for some selected labs and senior students who are in their last academic year." Because of this, you'll likely see a much smaller move-in crowd for Full Sail apartments when compared to previous years, which means fewer people that you might interact with and an easier time of maintaining social distancing measures.

 While there's never a guarantee on health, these tips should definitely help limit your exposure while moving into your Full Sail apartment. Good luck with move-in and the new semester!