College And Covid: What We Think We Missed

You’ve seen it in every movie. 

A minivan pulls up to a campus crawling with fresh faces, excited to step into the real world. Twelve friendly orientation leaders help unpack one car, and flyers for exciting clubs and classes are being thrown left and right. Students are playing soccer on the giant, freshly mowed lawn across from a group of smiling hula-hoopers having the time of their life. 

Goodbyes are said to the over-emotional parents who are losing their baby, and the former-high-school loser’s first day of college has officially begun. 

Enter the roommate, cool and friendly, who already finished decorating the massive dorm room that’s better styled than an Ikea showroom. A cute stranger accidentally  enters the wrong room, and there are instant sparks. There are talks of a back-to-school rager and a coveted internship position is up for grabs. 

Everyone is settled and no one has a job.

According to fiction, college is supposed to be where you find yourself, make lifelong friends, begin your career, fall in love, learn life lessons, and ultimately grow up. Obviously it’s all ridiculous, but it’s all we know.

The reality for many students since March of 2020 has been extremely different. 

When in-person instruction was put on a hiatus due to the worldwide pandemic, online school became the new norm for universities around the United States. For almost two years the entire idea of college shifted, and students began to wonder if we would ever be able to go back. 

Some graduated without a ceremony, immediately thrust into the remote workforce. Some left as Freshman and Sophomores that spring and later returned in Fall of 2021 suddenly Juniors and Seniors. They were supposedly the experienced and established upperclassmen, but instead still felt new to campus. Some just missed the brief taste of normalcy that the others were able to experience, and were introduced to campus while sitting in their childhood bedrooms via laptop screen. 

Why were we the unlucky ones that missed out on the romanticized version of college life? Why were we faced with the decision of either pushing through and getting through the semesters instead of being able to take advantage of everything campus had to offer, or putting our education on hold for an undetermined amount of time? 

Covid was, and still is, horrible, tragic, and traumatic. However bad it was for you, it was worse for someone else. Students are lucky to have been able to attend college in the first place, let alone online, and return to school in person. But we should be able to mourn what we lost or just missed, no matter how small. 

Just because we returned in person, doesn’t mean we will ever return to normal. Campuses are still limiting in-person instruction, and many classes have remained online. Professors hold virtual office hours, clubs hold virtual meetings. Formerly-public spaces on campuses have limited hours or are only open to students and staff. 

Campuses are not as lively as it seems they should be.

While college isn’t an immediate gateway to career success nor the perfect social life like the movies say it is, there are very real benefits that are only available through in person instruction.

Experiencing what it is like to work in a real work environment, meeting diverse and like-minded people are helpful in building social skills and learning how to network. In-person classes with a set schedule help students to become punctual and create time-management methods. 

Even how to work and live around others is increasingly rare knowledge for any young person that is used to being stuck alone and online. 

Though in person instruction can be beneficial, it can also be easier, which isn’t always a good thing. The hardships of juggling time, being social, and finding your way are tough to deal with at the moment, but they are just as important as the material studied in class. 

Unfortunately, so many of us will miss those lessons. Entering adulthood via computer is not a good way to build those skills, but it is all we know. 

While setting high expectations for anything typically leaves you feeling disappointed and let down, at least you get the real experience. 

For many of us, we barely got to live a “normal” college life, leaving us with only the fabricated and unrealistic version to feel like we missed out on.