This spring semester was abruptly cut short at the hands of the coronavirus pandemic, but a new semester is on the horizon bringing with it a fresh start and new opportunities.
Signing apartment leases, registering for classes and preparing for what’s to come huh and more have led Aggies to begin thinking about what it is they look forward to doing differently starting in the fall of 2020.
History freshman Madysen Kumpula said being more on top of her schoolwork is at the top of her priority list at the start of the new semester.
“I thought because I finally had a social life I could half-heartedly do school, but you can’t do that here,” Kumpula said. “You’ve got to work your butt off during the week so you can have fun on the weekends.”
Although the switch to online classes brought unforeseen challenges, Kumpula said the new format taught her the practicality of in-person lectures.
“Value in-person classes because they truly hold so much significance,” Kumpula said. “This semester also taught me that it’s okay to feel unproductive and let yourself have a break.”
Nutrition sophomore Morgan Holland said she had set significant fitness goals for her spring semester that were cut short. Nonetheless, she plans to continue her training even in quarantine to ensure she completes everything she had planned.
“This semester I was supposed to be preparing to run a 5K to benefit several charities,” Holland said. “It sadly got canceled with the given circumstances, but I’m really looking towards next semester so that I can finish training.”
Holland said she’s looking forward to strengthening her leadership and business connections through acts of service for her women’s organization Alpha Zeta Chi.
“I’ll be working on behalf of my organization with various professionals in order to run our events smoothly from start to finish,” Holland said. “In order to represent us well, it’s important that I show and perform skills of that as a leader.”
Sometimes getting organized to ensure early instructional success comes with its difficulties. However, accounting freshman Dalmath Kandolo said she would like to see herself make that change in the fall.
“A few things I’d do differently next semester is start paying attention in class,” Kandolo said. “Taking good notes and making sure I understand them. I want to be able to make friends with my professors and start going to office hours and SI sessions early on.”
Moving into leadership positions is also a primary focus for Kandolo, who Dell Scholars Ambassador. Kandolo said she wants underclassmen to feel just as comfortable with her as she does with them.
“Because I’m getting more involved with the org I’m in since I got a leadership and mentor role, I want to make sure the underclassmen I’m responsible for feel comfortable to talk to me or hang out,” Kandolo said.
Ultimately, a change in social scenery is what Kandolo said she’d like to see the most. In order to bring about that change, Kandolo said she forced herself to be alone to find those solid friends.
“I want to make friends with people I know are genuine and be more open to become more social,” Kandolo said. “My first semester I felt kind of lost and alone so I made friends with pretty much everyone and hung around different people depending on the occasion. It wasn’t until this semester that I realized everyone had a solid friend group except me.”