Wrapping up the first full academic year in a pandemic
Last March, the quick and jarring transition to remote learning left many students disappointed with the ending of their academic year, and uncertain as to what the next year would look like. Coming out of the first full year of college in a pandemic, students’ perspectives stayed fairly consistent on several topics, but changed slightly with nuances in remote learning and the addition of a new class of students.
For many students, the pandemic influenced where and how they would be able to participate in learning. Psychology major sophomore Taylor D’Agostino is one such student.
“I spent a semester home due to COVID and its impacts on my family and our financial situation … being back on campus, [I’ve seen] only a limited amount of people,” D’Agostino said. “It has been tough.”
Students like D’Agostino also find the pandemic to be very limiting in terms of general mobility. Limited study areas and spaces available for people to gather have severely impacted students’ ability to participate in the on-campus life and culture.
“[I] miss the ability to go work whenever, wherever,” D’Agostino said.
Other students managed to find a certain amount of freedom in this lack of strictness and physical gathering. Early childhood education major junior Abigail Wendler noticed that her academic freedom reached a new height since the pandemic began.
“Online learning has opened up a lot of time for me,” Wendler said. “I’m able to make my own schedule and do work whenever I need to or want to during my week.”
As far as classes go, most upperclassmen are yearning for in-person learning to be again. Students like Wendler miss the in-person connection that accompanies the physical gathering space of a classroom.
“I really miss seeing classmates and [professors] in person,” Wendler said. “I miss that time before or after class to talk to my peers and make new friends.”
D’Agostino also noticed a significant difference in the size of the course load being assigned by professors.
“[Professors] are giving so much more course work than normal [as compared to before the pandemic],” D’Agostino said.
Difficulties in remote learning are something that most students understand. Biology and psychology double major freshman Lauren Verde had her first year at Geneseo defined by some of these stressors.
“It has been hard to find motivation to learn online with some of the classes I don’t like as much,” Verde said. “It’s also hard to miss out on in-class opportunities and meeting students in the classroom.”
Many first-year students encountered difficulties adjusting to college life outside of the classroom as well. Freshman childhood special education major Torianna Robleto experienced many frustrations adjusting in their first year during a pandemic, including losing many of the experiences they felt would define their freshman year.
“[For] most of those things, [I] feel like I’m still on a waitlist to experience.”
The pandemic presented sacrifices that critically defined the experiences Robleto and many other freshmen missed coming into Geneseo.
“We’re all persevering but in a very melancholy way, kind of just surviving,” Robleto said.
Despite all the struggles that freshmen faced over the course of this academic year, most found a way to cope and maintain an optimistic attitude. Robleto, regardless of their frustrations with the initial transition to COVID-college life, remains full of hope for the future.
Similarly, Verde has been able to find the good interspersed with the bad and remains positive about her future at Geneseo.
“COVID has had an overall negative affect,” Verde said. “But I’m really fortunate to have found great people regardless, and to have found my place here.”