By Krush Sood
ASU students have experienced isolation, distanced learning and a huge workload. At this point, everyone is tired of talking about COVID-19 and it seems like there is light at the end of the tunnel with the vaccine, but I think it is important to acknowledge what we have all been through. Here is a collection of quotes that give you an inside look into what ASU have gone through, trying to balance college and a global pandemic.
“It was definitely difficult to say the least. A massive aspect for me is campus life and getting to experience that culture is as important as the schooling itself. Losing that aspect was tough to swallow.”
– Dillon Hinkle, Senior
“Being in a school during a pandemic is mostly eye-opening because you’re faced with the reality that school is genuinely unimportant. It sounds silly but with thousands of people out of work and unable to pay bills that provide the basic necessities like housing, food and water, you realize that your GPA is quite literally the least of your concerns. It’s challenging because administrators and staff seem to not understand that education was put on the back-burner out of necessity.”
– Cami Parrish, Sophomore
“Obviously at the start of the pandemic everything sucked. But, COVID and this year has allowed me to grow mentally, physically and emotionally because I learned how to be kind to myself. I can honestly say that even though this year wasn’t ideal, I’ve never been happier.”
– Constance Almendares, Senior
“Going to school during COVID was challenging. When it first started there was a lot of stress and uncertainty, and then not getting to have a graduation ceremony sucked. Coming back for my masters turned out to be a good move and now I’m going into the job market as things are getting better.”
– Noah Flack, Graduate Student
“This pandemic has had a huge effect on students across the nation. Specifically for me as a freshman, it affected me more because the typical freshman experience including the dorms, parties and classes was ruined. It’s also been hard to do zoom classes because it’s hard to stay focused staring at your screen for hours everyday without any break. It also feels like we never really got a transition period because we automatically had to jump into college without truly getting closure from high school. I have made many new friends and have had a great time but I will never truly get the real freshman experience.”
– Shivani Bahl, Freshman
“Life during COVID-19 has been interesting to say the least. As a student, I have tried my best to make the most out of a drastic change of life”
– Michael Lancia, Junior
“At first switching to online school wasn’t that bad, but after a year of it, I have had my fill. I am looking forward to have reasons to leave my apartment again”
– Elinor Tutora, Sophomore
“If I had to describe this last year in one word it would be disruption. My daily routine, from going to the gym to just being able to see friends on campus, got shattered. This past year was rough but now I’m excited and motivated to try and build new routines and return to some normalcy in my life.”
– Julien Polster, Junior
“A year in the life of Covid for me was nothing short of a bunch of trials, tribulations and challenges! It definitely affected a lot of people in a lot of different ways- some being positive and others negative. However, for me, there was definitely a mixture of both. Where essentially being cut off from the world opened a lot of doors inside of me that I tried to keep shut for a long time, definitely brought me a lot of deep seeded pain which then accumulated physically for me. Now with having it affecting graduation, it’s definitely depressing! My whole college career, school career honestly, I never imagined that my graduation would be what it is! Obviously I’m grateful to even be able to walk, but it’ll be sad not being able to have my family and friends in the stands cheering me on!”
– Peyton Clark, Senior
“This past year I’ve been home, created better relationships with my parents, and struggled to stay passionate about what I want to do in my life.”
– Keon Mobasher, Junior
“School for me felt as if it was non-existent. Living in a different city made it easy for me to dissociate my learning from actual retention. I wish that the format of zoom classes was not abused as much, given that more work was assigned to makeup the experience of in-person education. I could not imagine what it was like for out-of-state students.”
– Luke Riviera, Sophomore
“I feel like school was really difficult this year. It felt like we had so much more work to do and maybe that’s just because all we did was sit in front of a computer. I sort of feel like I got screwed out of a year of the college experience and that sucks”
– Devon Greene, Junior
“Covid added more flexibility to my schedule. I enjoyed being able to multitask and spend less time traveling to and from class. I definitely did miss being in the classroom and interacting with my professors and peers because it is extremely different over zoom.”
– Rachel Cohen, Senior
“Online school has had a lot of benefits this year but also a lot of downsides, but I’m excited to meet my professors and classmates in person as the social aspect is completely missing.”
– Sydney Mackie, Sophomore
“This year was hard overall. Making the adjustment to online learning wasn’t easy especially when there were so many external factors, like a pandemic and racial tensions. There were definitely times when school was too overwhelming and I wanted to quit. But there is also a silver lining, which is learning how to persevere. I really feel like I earned all my successes and accomplishments this year, because I truly put in the work for it.”
– Kiarra Spottsville, Senior
“As a student who wants to pursue the field of medicine, this pandemic has been the ultimate test of how well we can adapt to change. Online learning certainly hasn’t been easy and it’s been very straining for the majors who need hands-on experience. I was blessed enough to teach the microbiology labs and it was interesting to see the operations of school from the administrative point of view. It hasn’t been easy, but it’s one day at a time.”
– Larisa Krueger, Senior
“I learned that a year of being virtual majorly sucks, I miss seeing my friends in classes and meeting new people. A key part of the college experience is missing and it really sucks.”
– Jeremy Sleeter, Junior
Though life is slowly coming back to normal, many aspects of our day-to-day life have changed. Many ASU students are upset about losing a significant chunk of their college years, but many also have chosen to see the positive and look at their personal improvement over the last year and how they faced this adversity.
How has COVID-19 impacted your college experience?
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