Dear Freshman,
It’s no question that this is probably not what you had pictured your first year of college to be like. And that really sucks. It’s a lot harder to meet people and hang out with friends when most of your classes are online, and you can’t even see what people look like beyond their eyes. It’s really weird. But it’s really weird for upperclassman too. It’s a readjustment that all of us have to face, but hopefully this can help you get a better idea of what you should expect.
Masks are the most obvious sense of change. They’re uncomfortable, make it hard to breathe and communicate, and an overall nuisance. And yet, they are probably the most critical in making sure you get to stay on campus and live the college life. Wearing them around your neck doesn’t work. Wearing them underneath your nose doesn’t work. Gators don’t even really work. It may be annoying, but the college experience, even at this limited capacity, is worth fighting for.
Online classes have made meeting people a little harder, but I don’t think anyone is complaining about being able to never have to leave your bed. If your professor allows, you can just turn your camera off and go to your class quite literally just having rolled out of bed: pjs, bed-head, retainer and all. Not to mention you’re almost never late from running across campus. Attendance polices have looser restrictions due to COVID-19 regulations, where some professors would not have excused a single “skip.” Many lectures are also being recorded, so you never have to worry about what you may have missed. While technical difficulties are unavoidable, at least you know you can’t be scrutinized because you HAVE to be online. In this, I find students have claimed small victories.
The most tragic loss you probably find yourselves facing is the fact that parties have been banned in order to decrease the risk of spreading the coronavirus. From every movie and tv-show about college we have ever seen, we know that a college party is one of the most critical parts of the college experience. But we have to think about the risks we take by breaking this rule: you’ll get what, maybe one party that may be pretty fun while you’re there, until Public Safety shows up, shuts it down, sends you home and now you have to face your family as to why you wasted the money they paid for your tuition on one stupid party. Not to mention you would be putting yourself and other people at risk. Instead, try hanging out with a few friends, wait out these pandemic regulations, and soon you’ll be able to have all the college fun your hearts desire. And think about it, imagine how EPIC the parties are going to be after going so long without having them. Just saying…
Sincerely,
A Junior who really wants to stay on campus