Hand sanitizer, masks, and textbook guides for a “socially distant” social life – aka my freshman year back-to-school shopping list.
I don’t mean to state the obvious here, but this year’s different… like astronomically different. Frequent quizzes and exams in curriculum subjects are expected, but weekly COVID-19 tests? That’s new, for sure! Entering a new environment as a first-year student is intimidating as it is, which seems to be known by everyone. Older students, and many adults, are keen to mention that freshmen are like “little fish in a big pond,” sometimes struggling to find their way in a setting that is much different than what they’re used to. This metaphor still applies, but I’d like to alter it a little bit. Now, imagine these fish, both big and small, wearing masks and gloves whilst swimming six feet apart. Yeah, that tailors to this year’s freshman experience a bit better!
I’m a commuter student, so my first time on campus this year was on August 31, a month ago now. My task for the day was to check-in and receive my “welcome bag” to Stevens, and I was totally excited. I felt the dawn of a new adventure breeze past me. A new chapter was creaking open and I could sense it. The campus was beautiful, as it always is, but it felt, in some ways, emptier and more barren than I was expecting. It was then that I realized that the campus was missing a large amount of what typically makes a campus whole: the students. As I made my way from the Castle Point Hall parking lot to the large, white tent outside the Howe Center, I found myself imagining what campus looks like at its best, and what it will look like in the future, opposed to how it looks right now.
In my mind, the mind of a freshman, I envisioned students walking and talking with each other in semi-large groups, chatting about surface-level topics. My imagination painted a picture of what I assumed college life would be like before the pandemic was even a thought in anyone’s mind- what I assumed college life would be like since I was a kid. As I continued walking, my daydream followed me. I saw people sitting together on the lawn, laughing and doing homework. I pictured students gathering together in the dining hall, introducing themselves to one another for the very first time. The vision that I saw was beautiful, but the more I walked the more reality stopped me from imagining any further. As I traveled past the lawn, my eyes stared straight ahead at a huge tent that had tables resting underneath it. Similarly to my daydream, there were students congregated there. It was completely different, though. Instead of conversing closely and intimately, as I had expected, they were sitting six feet apart from one another at tables that were set up for social distancing. My next stop was the first floor of the Howe Center. When I passed by the bookstore, I was confused to see a long line of students waiting to get inside, since the amount of people allowed to enter was limited. It was then that I fully realized the extent of which I had to alter my expectations for my freshman year.
Nothing in our current situation is “normal.”
So, I decided that I was approaching my preconceptions for this year in a way that was not at all beneficial and entirely detrimental. It’s sometimes pointless to agonize over how a situation could’ve gone, instead of how it’s going, when there’s simply nothing you can do about it. I find that Stevens’ motto reigns true, especially right now. “Per Aspera Ad Astra;” through adversity to the stars. When the world changes, as it constantly does, accept it and embrace it, and try to make the most out of whatever situation you’re in.
Regardless of the circumstances, I am extremely grateful to have been given the opportunity to be on campus for my first semester (safely, of course)!
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