COVID goes to college

March of the year 2020, life as we know it began to change, for everyone. While the rest of the country was fighting over toilet paper, mass producing masks, and struggling to pay rent, college students were packing their bags, deserting campus towns, and sitting in front of computer screens.

When the coronavirus first flooded the United States, colleges and universities around the nation began to shut down campuses. All fourteen of the Big Ten schools switched to some type of online learning. Illinois colleges and universities went on lockdown. And the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (U of I) followed suit.

Students were moved out of dorms and off campus. The chalk dust settled as classrooms grew empty. Hallways that were once filled with hundreds of people appeared lifeless. Dining halls stopped serving. Sports and extracurricular activities came to a halt. College Town became a ghost town.

“I’ve been all online all the time,” said Tyler Swanson, a sophomore at the U of I. Once the pandemic began to set in colleges had to come up with a way for students to continue their education, while still staying safe from the virus.

The solution? Online school. Hello Zoom. Though the idea of virtual school was not a foreign concept pre-COVID, it quickly became much more prevalent in society.

Technology and computers took a major win as they laid the foundation for the new classrooms. Soon after universities began shutting down mid-March of 2020, college campuses began getting new locations.

Whether on the back porch, the living room couch, or the dining table, thanks to websites such as Zoom and Google Meets, students could participate in class from just about anywhere. But why?

Online school seemed to be the best way to keep students, faculty, and staff safe. And to keep the virus from spreading like wildfires.

Sure, being able to do school from home may seem pretty ideal for some people, but for others, it was different. “I’ve basically lost three semesters of my college experience,” said Swanson. “It really sucks.”

It has been over a year since COVID-19 initially trailblazed through the U.S. and since then a lot of things have changed. According to Swanson, “I’m back on campus now, but it’s just not the same.” So, what exactly does college life during a pandemic look like?

“I definitely don’t go out as much as I want to,” said Swanson. “I’m a big sports fan so I really miss going out to the football and basketball games.” For many, going out and going to events is a major part of the college experience, and with the presence of COVID-19 a lot of that experience has been taken away.

Yet, for Swanson, he still finds “ways to make it work.” “We like to go out and socialize as much as we can within the boundaries that we have.”

Swanson is not the only college student whose experience has been altered by the pandemic. Sydney Burnett, a sophomore at Indiana University (IU) in Bloomington, has experienced many struggles being a student during the pandemic.

At first, Burnett was less than worried about the virus. She went from the amusing mindset of “oh yeah COVID is so scary” to “Oh god, this sucks.” What made her change her mind?

March of 2020 college students everywhere were enjoying spring break. Though, COVID had different plans. “The day after I got back from Florida, I moved all my stuff out from the dorms.” “Everyone that lived in campus housing got kicked out.”

That was just the beginning for Burnett. As the virus grew in threat, Burnett’s intended college experience began to fade from her view.

Burnett finished her spring semester 2020 at home. Being that she had already signed a lease for an apartment the following semester, she had no choice but to return to campus.

Fall 2020, Burnett moved into her apartment and was back at IU, except this time, she wasn’t a student. “I dropped all of my classes last semester,” and “I was planning to take this semester off because I was like ‘I just can’t do this.’”

“It was really stressful,” said Burnett. Rather than just changing her college experience, COVID-19 brought hers to a complete hiatus. But how did a virus, have such an effect on Burnett as a student?

For her, it was the online schooling. The tactic many colleges resorted to amidst the pandemic. “I’m not an online learner. I’m more hands on, in person, face to face.” Burnett claims to get “way too distracted” while learning virtually. “That really made me struggle.”

That being said, Burnett opted out of taking classes fall semester. “I just couldn’t find the motivation.”

Being a student throughout COVID-19 also brought on some mental health struggles for Burnett. “I wasn’t happy at all.” The time she did commit to online classes made her “really stressed out and anxious all the time.” She determined that remaining online and damaging her mental health was just “not worth it.”

Aside from her mental health and her college experience, COVID-19 also brought change to Burnett’s plans for her future. “It made me change my major a million times.” The idea of online school brought clarity to Burnett in regard to what she wanted to do with her life. “It's really made me change my outlook on what I actually want to do.”

Anne Galloway, a junior at IU, also feels as if COVID-19, has drastically interfered with her life as a college student. Galloway is Burnett’s neighbor at their campus apartments.

Galloway too has experienced various repercussions of COVID at college. When asked about her experience, she replied, “Oh my god it has impacted mine so much. I was supposed to be doing my semester abroad right now.”

Galloway had signed up to study abroad for a semester, but due to the pandemic, she had to miss out on the opportunity. Though it did not stop there. COVID-19 presented many more struggles for Galloway.

“I struggle with mental illness and it’s been really extra hard during all of this.” She went on, “I was so used to my routine and this completely switched it all up.” Rather than having the support and reminders from professors and fellow students, Galloway felt that she was alone. “Having to completely rely on myself to get all of my work done has been really hard,” she said.

Like Burnett, online learning really took a toll on Galloway, and she too ended up dropping a semester of classes. “I was on track to almost graduate early and now I’m at least going to have to take an extra semester to graduate.”

Galloway’s social life at college has also taken a hit due to the pandemic. Between moving home and limiting going out, maintaining relationships became a difficult task. “I lost so many friends during COVID.”

Galloway has struggled with her family relationships too. “I haven’t been able to see my family in a really long time.”

As for going out and events, the biggest thing Galloway feels like she missed out on is Little Five. Litte Five or Little 500 is a big cycling race held every year at IU. It is a popular social event among the students. Having “to miss two Little Fives, that’s the worst,” Galloway said.

Another way that COVID-19 has ultimately affected students is through things such as sports, recreational activities, and extracurriculars.

Thanks to the new safety protocols and cautionary measures many colleges have adopted, participating in sports and recreational activities now looks different for students.

Josie Lyons, a freshman at Franklin College in Indiana, is a member of both the collegiate track and cross-country teams.

“All of cross country was canceled.” Lyons, hopeful to start out her first year on the team was less than thrilled when she didn’t even get a freshman season. Though, her team still held practices; however, they didn’t look like usual.

“We had to wear masks while we weren’t doing the physical active running, like during warmups and when we had team meetings, we still had to wear masks.”

Luckily enough for Lyons, she has been able to participate in track this season. “We have been able to have a couple indoor track meets so far this semester which is exciting.”

Lyons is also a theatre major and a choir participant and because of COVID-19 she says, “we haven’t been able to have any real performances.”

For choir, “we still had to wear masks, and we had plastic barriers set up in between every person.”

While in theatre Lyons didn’t partake in any “real shows” she still had the opportunity to be a part of virtual performances.

Now, when it comes to classes and schooling, Lyons has been one of the lucky ones. According to her, she has remained on campus and in person. Not all college students have been as lucky.

Take Emma Rice, a sophomore at Purdue University, for example. “My fall semester, it was completely online for me.” She continued to explain that she “was only on campus one hour a week for one class.”

For Rice that fall semester did not go as she had originally hoped. “I just like sat at my desk for twelve hours straight and worked.”

Though Rice has been fortunate this semester to have class both in person and online. “I’m pretty hybrid,” she said. Though she did add how “as the semester goes on more and more [classes] go online.”

Other than changes to her academic experience, Rice has also experienced some social obstacles. “I definitely feel like I’m missing out on the social aspect.”

For Rice, one area of struggle is networking and establishing friendships. “I can’t meet anyone in any of my classes.” With Purdue’s COVID-19 protocols, classes that are in person remain socially distanced.

“We have these stickers that are safe for social distancing and not safe for social distancing on every other chair,” said Rice. And “it’s a little awkward to yell across chairs.”

Rice is also running into difficulties across campus. “We’re not allowed to eat in the dining courts.” Before COVID-19 it was normal to sit in dining courts and socialize, now that’s not even an option.

“Even in the dorms I feel like we have zero community which has been kind of difficult.” Pre-pandemic, Rice had been accustomed to the idea of leaving dorm doors open allowing neighbors or anyone in the building to stop in and say hi. Now, “our doors in our dorms aren’t allowed to stay open.”

As for going out and meeting people through clubs or extracurricular activities, those “all meet virtually,” according to Rice. “It’s a little hard to meet friends on zoom.”

So far, “every aspect of” college during a pandemic has been difficult for Rice.

Cheyenne Graham can relate. Graham is a sophomore at University of Southern Indiana. When asked how COVID has affected her college experience, Graham replied, “it’s actually kind of made it junk.”

This semester, Graham is fortunate to have a few classes in person, though she was not as lucky last semester. “It’s kind of messed up classes.” She went on, “stuff that should be taught in person is taught online, and it’s not taught as well online as what it should be.”

For colleges and universities, resorting to online classes seemed like the best and safest option, but for students, it was not all that it added up to be.

“I did not learn anything last semester,” Graham said. “I don’t know how I skated through it, but I did.” Like many other college students Graham struggled with online school, and she even found that it had an impact on her grades.

“It was terrible.” “I’m not retaining anything I’ve learned through any of my online classes.”

Graham also came across difficulties when it came to having a social life on campus. While schools are setting guidelines and protocols to keep campus safe, students are facing the backlash. Campus towns have gone from a place of freedom to an area of restrictions.

“We can’t do anything,” Graham declared. “Normally there’s a bunch of stuff to do on campus, now there’s not a bunch of stuff.” She explained how, “everything is virtual, so it’s not as much fun.”

When it comes to Graham’s overall college experience in the middle of a pandemic, she claims that “it’s not going well.”

While college students may feel like their school’s extra safety precautions are restricting, others appreciate the feeling of security and protection from the virus.

One major change some college students have had to accept and endure is frequent testing. Many campuses have begun requiring that students, faculty, and staff all be tested for the virus.

Allison Hefner, a junior at the U of I, explains how she doesn’t mind the frequent COVID-19 tests, because she knows that they are helping to keep her and those around her healthy.

“With campus we get tested. . .every four days.” She went on, “I almost feel safe knowing that I don’t have it because I’m getting tested so often.”

For Hefner, the frequent testing, though not ideal is somewhat of a security blanket. To her, knowing whether or not she has COVID-19 is worth it.

In fact, in some ways Hefner rather partake in the campus testing than not. “It’s like you go home over winter break and things like that and it’s like ‘I’m not going to get tested as often.’” She said in that scenario she’s then constantly questioning, “Do I have it?”

Another college student who has expressed their appreciation for their school’s newly adopted safety protocols is Gage Higdon. Higdon is a sophomore at the University of Louisville (U of L).

“They’ve done a really good job of making it safe for students,” said Higdon. Like many other schools, U of L has followed strict guidelines and protocols to protect their students, faculty, and staff. Their efforts are proving effective.

“I’ve been on campus and in in-person classes last semester and this semester. . .it’s a very safe environment.”

Whether in-person, online or not attending school at all, college students have faced major repercussions of COVID-19. From dropping classes, falling behind in school, losing friends, and so much more this virus has been less than ideal for students.

College is a time that is often referred to as “the best years of your life,” but for current college students, they are struggling just as much as the rest of the world.

As Swanson put it, it is like “you’re losing out on what is supposed to be the best, most freeing time of your life. . .because of COVID.”