“It was almost starting over again as a journey. It was relearning how to make friends.”

Kristen Faith Green is a junior at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Green is earning her degree with a major in Elementary Education and a minor in English. Green opens up about her college experience and how COVID has affected her social habits and how she sees the student community on campus

Maria: Would you like to describe your expectations for college while you were applying?

Kristen: Yeah! So I guess I envisioned myself being in the field right away, going into schools right away. I’m an education major so I thought I was going to get all this experience, I can’t wait to make all these new friends can’t wait to try all these new things and that’s pretty much what first semester was like it was pretty but when Covid hit my second semester my freshman that’s when it got all turned upside down. I had expectations to try new things.

Maria: When Covid first shut down school, what were your first thoughts? What were yours and other student reactions?

Kristen : Right, so we heard buzz about it, it wasn’t until right before spring break before we got a mass email saying we were getting an extension of spring break and we would be online for a couple weeks. It was a shock it was setting in. It was a couple weeks into virtual classes. I think they sent an email saying we weren’t returning in person.

Maria:When you got the email that you weren’t coming back to school in person, at that time could you feel your own social habits begin to change?

Kristen: Oh absolutely! I went back to live with my parents and I, even if my friends were at home, it was Covid we couldn’t hang out with anyone, like my social life was destroyed! Looking back at it it wasn’t terrible, but it definitely put a damper on what I thought would be my college experience.

Maria: Now that we’re returning back to campus, back to in-person classes and now masks are coming off, can you describe the social challenges that have been hardest for you?

Kristen: So the biggest social challenge for me is since I was away for a year, I hadn’t continued the friendships I started in freshman year, so it was almost starting over again as a journey. It was relearning how to make friends. It was ‘hey can I study with you?’’ It was scary, so daunting but we’re better now.

Maria: Do you think the university is doing a good job to bring students together to rebuild the community?

Kristen: I mean you see posters of activities, they had a winter welcome so I think they’re trying, I think they are, oh! but have you heard that they’re canceling panther fest after this year?!

Maria:Oh my god no! Would you like to talk a little more about that?

Kristen:Yea… so my roommate is on the planning committee so I get a little inside peak and she didn’t say WHY but she just mentioned that this will be the last panther fest o don’t know if it’s money or student attendance but I heard it’s the last one and it is disappointing to me because it was such a great community building thing. So definitely moving in a negative direction, student associations are trying to make outreach. I’m not sure if it’s the actual university, we have to separate students from the name.