How the Pandemic Affects First-Year students at Dean College

I do not own this picture. Credit to: colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com

Imagine enjoying your senior year of high school and saying to yourself "this year cannot get better than this"

But at the same time, it is bittersweet because you must experience all of your "lasts;" last homecoming, last prom, last season of your sport, you get the idea. This second semester of your senior year is the most amazing time of your whole high school career. Come to find out, what was all going to change for the class of 2020.

One week in March, my teachers were preparing us "in case we don't come back." Thus news spread all over the school and no one had the slightest idea of what was happening. Later that week, March 13th to be exact, there was an announcement made on the intercom by the headmaster of my school that we should take the last period off in order to take anything we need from our lockers home with us. Without hesitation, I took all my notebooks and folders, and my friends and I rushed out of school as soon as possible.

Patiently waiting by her phone, my mom just came back from work when she noticed around 5 p.m. that night she received a long extensive email saying that we would be ould out of school for a minimum of 2 weeks. After my mom received this news, I asked her what this meant and that day, all my answers were answered.

Weeks turned into months. The cases of COVID-19 were increasing by the day and time was just passing by. Seniors all over the world were getting used to not celebrating their lasts, but instead getting an overwhelming amount of "sorrys". These sorrys later turned into replacements for not being able to have a normal second semester of our year.

It finally hit not just me but every senior around the world that we would not have a normal graduation to celebrate our accomplishments instead have our names scroll across a television for only the local channels to broadcast. Even though to realize the effort was put into it.

Fast forward to my freshman year of college. not having the chance to be on campus since I recently visited it in February of this year. I can tell, my professors are trying to make the most out of this whole experience and still teaching us new things along the way.

I had the privilege of interviewing some first-year students because it was important for me to hear what they to say about this whole experience and not only find the negatives in this but the positives that came from all of this.

Amanda Taylor is a Communications major and is expecting to minor in Criminal Justice. " While at first, I was skeptical about being completely online my first semester of college, it has been a great experience, I have met a lot of wonderful people in my classes who have turned into some of my best friends, while also excelling in all of my courses." Amanda also attended boarding school for the last several years and this experience allowed her to become closer with her family.

One con for Amanda is that there have been technical issues when it comes to learning virtually and not having that one-on-one connection with classmates, professors, and the staff at Dean College. "Just like most college students, it has been hard cooped up in my house for the last nine months. I miss going out with a group of friends to a city and spending the day together. I mourn the on-campus experiences other first semester freshmen that I didn't."

With this situation, however, Amanda is excited this is her experience and is planning on living on campus for the Spring 2021 semester.

Reagan Dobratz is an Exercise Science major freshman at Dean College. When asked about her thoughts on the semester being online, she responded with, "I was disappointed about finding out this semester was going to be online. After not being able to finish my senior year, and not going to a college campus was a letdown. It was also hard because most of my friends were able to move on campus and I felt like I was missing out by staying home."

Reagan finds that with classes being online, it bettered her computer skills as well as her computer skills as well as her feeling more confident with her newfound skills.

Reagan is thrilled to be on campus in the Spring because this is not only what she was looking for all along, but this gives her the opportunity to meet her new friends that she met virtually.

Patrick Parlon is a Criminal Justice major and has a whole different thought about classes being online from Amanda and Reagan. "Well, you see online classes are not the worst possible scenario because we are safe from COVID for the most part." For Patrick, he does not find many pros to being online, but he still gets an education and believes being online has taken a toll on meeting new people.

Patrick feels that the pandemic did not really affect his ability to work in an online setting as a result of the second semester of his senior year was online. But this experience bettered his time management skills. In fact, he plans to spend the Spring 2021 semester online because he believes that the COIVD-19 cases are increasing over time.

It is truly sad to think this is the new "normal," but it was filled with many ups and downs and made everyone realize that there is some good that can come out of this.

Dean College does plan on opening for the Spring 2021 semester for students who do wish to live on campus or commute, and it will be a great time meeting the lifelong friends I have made during the fall semester- while keeping a safe social distance.