BWW Blog: Welcome Back! (Pandemic Edition)

It's August which means thousands of students across the country are preparing to return to college for another semester. But unlike ever before, incoming freshmen along with the upperclassmen are facing an unknown future of schooling ahead of them due to the drastic changes the current pandemic has had on educational institutions in America. The simple saying of "back to school" almost doesn't pertain anymore to what everyone has known about stepping back onto campus for a new year full of opportunity, friendships and much more.

At my school, Wilkes University, college life already looks different than what I have known for the last two years as a student. I returned early for my RA training and moving into my dorm was the first of many things that had new rules connected instated. Restrictions on how many guests could help me move in, face coverings are required across campus at all times, specific granted access has to be given to get into certain buildings and social distancing guidelines must be followed. With a busy semester ahead, the new precautions and rules will be a major adjustment for me as a junior because prior to COVID-19, I knew what regular life on campus was like. Events, study groups, seeing my peers and classmates in person and living life without fear of a deadly disease coming to campus made my first two years amazing.

Up until last spring, college was what everyone made it out to be. When I was sent home due to the pandemic becoming more threatening to the community, I had no idea how differently everything would become if I had the chance to attend in-person classes on campus for my third year. For the class of 2024 who are just starting their college education and experience, they will never truly get the way of college prior to the pandemic.

As an RA in a freshman dorm this year, I have to learn how to sympathize with the newest college students. The transition of high school to college already isn't easy, but throwing in COVID-19 which has completely turned the world upside down, they are guaranteed to stumble across emotions, situations and instances that none of us ever have before. My struggles as a first year might not apply to what they go through as they try to navigate their first semester in a new environment while an endless amount of things are going on around them. The world is already a complicated place and for someone entering an entirely new stage of their life, it is easy to feel overwhelmed.

Each college and university is handling the dire situation differently. Some going strictly remote, some bringing students back to campus but keeping classes online and others holding classes half in-person and remotely. There are thousands of varying plans of action for schools across the nation on how to handle the threat of COVID-19 but still allow students to learn and prepare for their future. Ensuring safety measures and precautions are put to use will be an important component to stopping the spread on college campuses. Until the threat is minimalized and life can return to some form of normalcy, going back to school will remain quite distinctly different than it has in the past.

I'm wishing the class of 2024 the very best of luck this semester! Don't be afraid to ask for support from your friends and professors. We're all in the same uncertain situation and helping each other out is one of the best things we can do right now.

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