By Kaithlyn Villanueva | Staff Writer

Word on the Street: How do you feel about the mask mandate ending in the state? (KCC will still require masks to be worn indoors for at least the rest of the semester.)

Yumeno Kubo
Age: 20
Hometown: Kawasaki, Japan
Major: Liberal Arts

“I don’t want to wear a mask anymore because when I exercise, I sometimes struggle with catching my breath.”

Colton Duty 
Age: 20
Hometown: Spokane, Washington
Major: Culinary Arts

“I’m fine with it. It’s pretty nice to not have to wear a mask. I mean, it’s going to be a little weird that for sure after two years of masks, but I definitely will like it because I don’t like wearing masks all the time, especially working out.”

Shay Dallas 
Age: 24
Hometown: Honolulu
Major: Culinary Arts

“I think it’s going to be pretty nice, just being able to see people’s smiles again, because I feel like with the mask it hides everyone’s identities and creates a barrier between people. But also, even though most of us are vaccinated, I still have a little bit of concerns with the Covid going around still especially because I stay around my grandparents a lot, so you know just want to watch for everyone around me too.” 

Matthew Au  
Age: 21
Hometown: Kailua
Major: Fire Science 

“I feel it has it’s pros and cons definitely. From what I see from the news and things there’s a lot of local businesses that are thriving on that type of thing. Also you know there’s also going to be an obvious increase in Covid cases, but then again I feel like that’s going to be an obvious thing even if we do take away masks.”

Ayshia McMonigle
Age: 20
Hometown: Hawai‘i Kai
Major: KRS

“Honestly, I’m not very comfortable with it because I know Covid is still out there. Even though it’s not as worrisome now, it’s still something that can be spread around and it affects people in different ways. If my family is protected or I feel like we are because we’re vaccinated, I will still feel more comfortable and safer with the [mask] mandate.”