Walking across the main green on Wednesday morning for the first day of my junior year, I felt like a freshman again. Overwhelmed, excited, wondering if my outfit struck that perfect balance between academic and cute, I watched hundreds– maybe even thousands– of students walk in and out of Brown’s massive lecture halls, attending their first in-person classes in over a year. From a distance, it looked like a scene from a movie: a picturesque college campus on a sunny day. Close up, however, it looked like slight mayhem. Between seeing some faces I had almost forgotten and others I had only previously seen in a 1-inch Zoom square, I could barely remember what building I was supposed to be going to.
My first class was located in Solomon, the same building– of course– in which I attended my first class of freshman year. How cliched. Walking into the building proved to be a challenge, as nearly 50 students were trying to squeeze through the same singular doorway. In all the chaos I almost forgot to put my mask on. Still, I found the right classroom with 8 minutes to spare.
I am not sure what Brown’s social distancing protocols are for classes this Fall but I am confident that if they exist, they were not observed in any of my classes. That first room was packed. Luckily, I found a seat next to a friendly-looking boy in a backwards baseball cap but many students squeezed into open spaces between chairs on the floor and took notes with their computers perched on their laps.
I will be honest: wearing a mask was a bit annoying and uncomfortable, especially because I nearly sweated through it multiple times on this 80 degree day. But if wearing a mask is the price of sitting, in person, in front of a real professor giving a lecture to a classroom full of real students, I will wear 20 of them.
Importantly, Brown professors are not required to wear a mask while lecturing. This rule did wonders for my ability to not only hear my professors clearly, but to grasp the expression behind their words and engage fully. Each of my professors gave a sweet, gentle warning as they slowly unmasked, trying desperately to make sure every student felt safe and comfortable. But it was clear that everyone felt grateful and enthusiastic to be in their unmasked presence– myself included.
There was a palpable energy that pervaded the Brown campus throughout the day and the best word that I can think of to describe it is “awesome.” By the end of the day, I was absolutely exhausted– but that great, totally satiated kind of exhausted. I am grateful for Brown’s efforts to welcome students to a safe, lively campus. I am grateful that most of us are able to focus on the excitement of being back in Providence, rather than the sadness of what we lost over the past year. Most of all, I am grateful for the vaccine that allows this all to happen.