Gone are the days of large study groups, parties every weekend and going to the bathroom without masks on.
COVID-19 has undoubtedly altered many students’ college life. With a once-in-a-lifetime public health crisis lurking across campus, students have had to find new ways to adapt and continue learning in this new environment.
Finance senior Francisco Torres said the new school year has exacerbated all the problems he had with collaborative college work before, while minimizing its benefits.
“It definitely makes it harder to be more accountable and to hold any classmates you have in a group more accountable,” Torres said. “I haven’t run into any serious issues yet, but I can see them bubbling on the surface. It’s just really difficult wanting to be safe but also wanting to learn effectively. Meeting online and not face-to-face is just not as efficient at getting the best out of everyone.”
Civil engineering senior Ruben Ramirez also said there are new challenges facing students this semester.
“As an engineering student I am used to always meeting up to study late at night and constantly being somewhere on campus with a group of friends,” Ramirez said. “That’s pretty much impossible now. I would rather be safe and healthy than get myself or anyone else sick, but at the same time I don’t want to do bad in a class.”
Torres said he thinks the university has done all they can to help students.
“I’m not really sure what they could do better,” Torres said. “This isn’t something that’s their fault, and it’s not like anyone expected a literal pandemic to happen. I think they have done everything they can and really helped as much as we could reasonably ask for. But at the same time, college and campus life don’t go hand in hand with a pandemic. Unfortunately, we can’t just cancel college.”
Ocean engineering senior Jonatan Lara said the challenges now aren’t necessarily learning in class, but studying outside the classroom and finding downtime, which is especially important for younger college students.
“I think it’s going to be harder for the sophomores than anyone else,” Lara said. “Freshmen came into college with this going on … seniors have gone through three years of college and at this point hopefully can handle themselves. It will just be tough on the younger students who need downtime to ease their minds. Are they going to be cooped up in their dorm or apartments all day now? Studying all day long with no breaks is just as bad as never studying.”
Ramirez said his social life will definitely be affected because of the pandemic.
“I obviously come here to get a good education and prepare myself for life after [college], but I’ve made some lifelong friends here who won’t feel safe hanging out or spending time together anymore,” Ramirez said. “We can’t really meet up after class and go get food somewhere on campus anymore, and we can’t all be bunched up together late at night in the library anymore. For this to happen in my last school year is pretty disappointing.”
Lara said he has felt as safe as he possibly could while being on campus.
“I don’t think I ever feel absolutely safe. I think the thought of getting sick with the virus is always in the back of everyone’s heads,” Lara said. “But overall I feel like the university has done as much as they could to get us to a position where we can at least learn in class, either through Zoom or in person, without the thought of dying. I have friends at other schools who all have to go in person everyday, and I thank the university for not putting us in that position.”