Items
Tag is exactly
freshman
-
2020-06-04
Reality Check
When the pandemic began about two years ago, I vividly remember thinking, "Okay, this should not last very long." But I was completely wrong. The pandemic took a lot of things from society, the ability to operate like we would normally would and instilled a fear that many of us had never experience. In my situation, it took the opportunity to have a traditional freshman college experience. Although, it allowed me to have classes on-line and have flexibility in my schedule, it took the one- in a lifetime experience of going from high school to post-secondary education and experiencing all that goes with that transition. This was a dream for me to accomplish, attending a recognized institution and having that ability to dorm, make friends, experience the college life. However, this pandemic made that possibility very surreal. This pandemic in a way was a reality check for me. Never once did I ever think that this type of situation would happen, you heard about it but you always thought about this like if it were something in the past. -
2022-04-28
COVID in my Life
I was a senior in high school when the pandemic hit. I remember right after spring break we got notice that school was over for the year. I remember that I had just gotten into my dream University and was not sure what the first year was going to look like for me at the time. Later in August, I was on my way to my new school, classes were a hybrid mix and I was able to stay in a dorm. II remember just how proud I was to be able to experience college even though it looked much different. But that meat that I would see my mom and dog a lot less. My mom is considered high risk so I didn't want to visit too often and risk her getting sick. I remember thinking that I missed them both so much and I had a big fear of losing my dog because he was getting older and I was unable to bring him with me to college. But I had a plan I was going to have my mom and dog move to my new city so we can all be close again. It was now my sophomore year of college and it was the first semester, the classes were amazing much better than the year before and I was actually for the first time getting to experience college and being in-person full time. By the second semester however I had much harder classes that I did not enjoy very much but I, of course, did my best with them. A couple of weeks later on January 19th, 2022 I got word that my childhood dog whom I have had since I was in Elementary school was not doing good and he needed to be put down. I took the first bus out and was there about three hours later. Seeing him was so hard, I remembered how he was so much smaller when I got him and now he was old and had many lumps on his body. His face still looked like a puppy because you couldn't see his white hair because he is a white dog. That was one of the hardest days of my life. I think of, Tyson every day but I know he is in a better place now not suffering, and is incredibly happy. I know we will see one another again one day. After Tyson's death I found out I had COVID and had also given it to my mom and she ended up in the hospital for a week which was incredibly hard on her. I had gotten behind in school and fell into a deep depression. It seemed like everything fell apart in my life during that time and to be honest I’ve never fully recovered from it. I know I will one day I just need to take it one day at a time. Thanks for reading. -
2021
Covid-19 During College
My freshman year of college was 2020. Almost all of my classes for the year were online only or online for most of the semester. This made attending classes very strange. It was not easy to ask questions online during the lecture and after class we were not always able to ask questions online. Most professors struggled just to figure out the technology to teach so it was harder for students to learn also. -
2021-04-01
My Awakening
For me, the start of covid began in the middle of my freshman year of college. Just like everyone else, I took my precautions and even got the vaccine. Around April of 2021, being isolated and forced to accompany myself. I had felt like I was in a transitioning stage of life, I felt the need to grow and do more things for myself. I have completely changed my life around, a full 360. I broke up with my ex-boyfriend because I could see our differences in emotional intelligence and maturity. That was my final straw that made me break out of my cocoon. I had deleted some social media that I felt was a major distraction and a road block for me to grow more confidently. I began focusing more on my school work and connecting with new people. I even got a new serving job and was making good money for being a college kid. I learned to enjoy the things I had forgotten about, such as painting and singing. I learned to connect to myself. This pandemic has opened me up to new opportunities and has provided me with a few life lessons. Life is more than simply succeeding to be at the top. Don’t forget to take a breather and surrender to what the moment is teaching you or blessing you with. -
2020-06-09
college life in COVID
this image is from friends I have made during my dark times during COVID 19, it was hard to make friends as a freshmen when classes were held on zoom. this took a toll on me and my personal life was going dark, it seemed that everyday that passes was just like the day before, no change. it made me contemplate how life is really worthless, you get up to everyday to do your required tasks and then get back to sleep just to get up again the next day and rinse repeat. I started going to a religious place to get help, and found people to hang out with. which ultimately helped me get back to normal life. I still feel as if life is worthless to most of us, as we do almost the same thing everyday and are expected to entertain each other. and while that may seem grim and dark, its the reality of life. to think of life in this manner is not harmful fore say as it helps you take bigger strides and risks in life, which may not be taken when life is thought of as a precious gift from god. and while life is a precious gift from god, realizing that taking strides which may negatively impact your life can also improve your life, which will help you get in a better spiritual and emotional state of mind. so while I played Basketball and enjoyed my time, I knew that my life was gonna get significantly better because this life barrier I placed upon myself was not gonna hold me back. and that was going to improve my spiritual and emotional state of mind -
2021-10-05
COVID-19 vs. Me
My story is raw and surely relatable by many of my peers. It captures the pandemic driven adversity I had dealt with during my senior year of high school as well as through my freshman year in college. It also includes a reflection that highlights our recent societal progression into a more normal and pandemic-free near future. This submission was simply meant to be another story regarding how COVID-19 has promoted upheaval and destruction in the lives of so many while reflecting on the current somewhat-improved state of the pandemic. -
2021-09-12
Oreoluwapo Omotayo-Benson and Christopher Combs Oral History, 2021/09/12
This interview contains two personal accounts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The questions discussed cover multiple aspects of the pandemic, and how it has shaped our lives as high school/college students. -
2021-04-11
A year of my life...
A year of my life… I tour ASU and decide it will be my college. Coronavirus arrives. My high school senior year abruptly ends. My twelfth and final season of high school baseball is cancelled. Our state goes on lockdown and we all stay home. Easter. No family get together. Church is closed. People around the world start to die by the thousands. Fear and anger spreads around social media. My grandfather falls and breaks his jaw and is in the hospital for a month. My older brothers and sisters keep their jobs but work from home. My nephew’s schools and daycares close. George Floyd dies at the hands of the police in Minnesota. All hell breaks loose in Portland…protests, riots, looting everywhere. Everyone takes sides. Blacks vs the police, the establishment, the government. Politician vs politician. Family member vs family member. Violence, tear gas, extremists. Whites stand with blacks. Moms join in protest. Black Lives Matter. All Lives Matter. No don’t say that. That is racist. Churches protest. They want to stay open. Freedom to worship, they say. Over 230 people get Covid at a Pentecostal church in Oregon. Pastors downplay the risks of the coronavirus, then die of coronavirus. They lose their battle in the courts. A wedding in Maine…55 guests…177 get sick with Covid…7 die – none of whom were at the wedding. A superspreader event. Superspreader. Our new vocabulary. Wear your mask. Our new normal. Another suicide in my school district. I turn 18. I am registered for classes at ASU but attending is up in the air. I work as a GrubHub deliverer because everyone is ordering food from home. We get together with family outdoors. I have a graduation party…in July. Graduated seniors get to play a couple of baseball games at the local minor league field. I am undefeated for my senior season. I pitch, hit, and field well. What might have been… August comes. August 15…I move into Hassayampa…115 degrees…new roommate…I start college…I get Covid…so does my roommate…so does our suitemate…and many others…September 8…I move out of Hassayampa…my roommate and I move into an apartment. Life gets better. Fires sweep through Oregon. And California. And Arizona. ASU cancels finals week. Election. All hell breaks loose. Again. I move home before Thanksgiving. My brother-in-law gets sick with Covid 19. My brother and sister-in-law get sick with Covid 19. My first term of college ends. Christmas. Politics. I won. No, I won. Sounds like kindergarten. These people run our government? I delete most of my social media. I am sick of it. I am sick of everybody. Sick of this year. January. ASU cancels spring break. Back to school. Things are different. The newness has worn off. Covid is a drag. School is a drag. I lose my best friend. I go home. I go back. Ice storm in Portland…power out…broken trees. I go home. I go back. Trying to keep going. Trying to survive. Class is a blur. I stare at the screen. The information goes through me. I am not there. I do my homework. I bomb my exams. My grades are ok…but am I learning anything? Who knows? Who cares? School will be over soon. Virtual work. Virtual school. Virtual life. I will finish the year with over 40 credits. I will never have stepped foot in a college classroom. I will never have talked to a college professor. I will have met very few people. Fall will come. I will be starting over. We all will be. I hope. #REL101 -
2020-03-10
The Pandemic
One of the main ways the Covid-19 pandemic affected me was the sudden change of in person learning to online learning . In early March of 2020, in my second semester of Freshman year students were told that the universty would be switching from in person teaching to online teaching. This change was very sudden, and it affected the whole dynamic students had with how they attended school, and how their work would be done. The pandemic caused many students and professors to completely change their school life around. This caused some students to struggle with their grades, and attendance was also affected. -
2020-08-21
College Through A Pandemic
While I have been incredibly fortunate to remain shielded from the harsher effects the pandemic has wrought on so many families and individuals over the course of the past year, I have faced a multitude of inner challenges in the transition from high school to college. Attending college, in the most normal of times, can prove a formidable adversary for those like myself who struggle with anxiety. Navigating a new campus, facing distance from loved ones, and managing an increase in course load all were deeply concerning facets of the experience in my eyes, even when a global pandemic was an inconceivable complication to these already daunting tasks. Most paramount of my worries, perhaps, was the social aspect of college. Though incoming freshmen are often reminded that this is an area of insecurity common to every new student, the restrictions that students were dealt amplified my ever-growing hesitations. Mandatory isolation, lack of social gatherings, and limited opportunities to meet others culminated into the manifestation of my deepest social anxieties. If I couldn’t cope with the pressures of normal interaction, how could I be expected to thrive in an environment barren of the very opportunity? I spent many nights leading up to the looming day of move-in sitting on the couch with my parents, often talking until the early hours of the morning. I was, at first, hesitant to express my feelings and risk sounding ungrateful or ignorant of the great privilege I possessed. So many people yearned to be in the position that I myself wanted any way out of. I was thankful for the opportunities that I had been given, and I felt that squandering them and conceding to my anxious preconceptions would be an insult to all those who weren’t given the same chance under the difficult circumstances the pandemic established. After many hours of deliberation with my family, I felt that letting my increasing social anxiety dictate my future would be disposing of a precious opportunity for personal growth. When the day of move-in arrived, it was impossible to ignore the pit in my stomach and the tightening in my chest once my parents had said their goodbyes and departed. Though I couldn’t have felt more alone in that moment, I quickly learned that this was far from the case. After only a brief period of awkward silence, my roommate and I set about decorating our space with posters representative of our shared taste in music and love of hockey, interests we soon found to be shared among a small group of people in our building. Through our conversations that first night, it was not only clear that good friends are much closer than my anxiety would have liked to admit, but also that we were going to establish a deep bond in experiencing the often challenging, always unique adventure of attending college in a pandemic. -
2020-08-27
Senior Year in NYC: The Monumental Moments - Welcome Freshman!
COVID-19 has helped to remind us that the little things matter in life, especially around a college campus. Showing a freshman to their dorm room or to where they may grab a bite to eat and have classes is nothing short of important. We are all jumping with joy here because even with a worldwide pandemic we could continue to enjoy making a difference in the new student’s lives at our university **Fordham University, SOCIO 2200 -
2020-08-29
Senior Year in NYC: The Monumental Moments - Welcome to College!
Our orientation leaders enjoyed a nice formal gathering (safely) after they spent a week preparing and welcoming our incoming freshman class (Class of 2024). They are so excited to represent their school and still live a somewhat normal college life celebrating their achievements. **Fordham University, SOCI2200 -
2020-09
College During COVID-19
The first semester of college can be an extremely challenging time for incoming freshman students in a "normal year," nevertheless during a pandemic. The first semester of college holds so many changes- living on your own, financing money, attending more rigorous classes, making new friends, exploring a new city, and so much more. In a regular year, students can easily adapt to these changes, especially by making new friends and exploring a new city, as there are not usually many gathering restrictions. This year, freshman have had to determine new ways to meet people and how to have as normal of a freshman experience as one could. These adaptations can be seen in many shapes and forms. For me, I decided that I needed to be even more social than I normally would be in a year without a pandemic, leading me to foster resilience. I decided to start conversations with people who I rode the elevator with, people walking around campus and people in the hallways/lobby/common spaces of the Westin. These forms of communication led me to meeting many new people and finding a solid group of friends of whom I enjoy spending time with. After meeting people that I truly connected with and who the conversations flowed naturally with, I would make further plans with them to meet up again. At the beginning of the semester, this was a difficult task because Northeastern prohibited us from entering any room other than our own, so we needed to find new places to hang out. Oftentimes I found my friends and I exploring the city, watching TV in the common rooms, shopping on Newbury Street, and going out to dinner together. This proved to be quite expensive. The many challenges in which incoming freshmen faced this semester have led to many freshmen, including myself, fostering resilience. We have seamlessly adapted to the overwhelming hurdles in which we faced with positive mindsets and optimism. Overall, this unique semester has given me some of the best moments of my life, despite the ongoing pandemic! My story of my first semester of college proves that the one can make the most of their time throughout the pandemic if they respond with optimism and adaptability! The photo included in this archive pictures my new friends and me exploring the city on a warm fall night! -
2020-12-02
Studying From Home During a Pandemic
This is a picture of me, Dylan Sacks. I am currently a freshman at Northeastern University in Boston Massachusetts. Although I was on campus for the majority of the semester this year, I am home for about 10 weeks in total, because of the pandemic. Although Northeastern is unique compared to other schools because the majority of other schools around the country did not allow students to come back to campus after thanksgiving because of the pandemic, I made the personal choice to stay home until second semester begins (mid-january) for my own safety. This is where I spend most of my time, studying and working hard. On the computer monitor the application "Zoom" is pulled up. This is what all of my classes use so the students can feel as if we still have class. The difficulty is trying to feel as though these are normal times, and Northeastern and their amazing staff are doing everything they can to give us the closest they can to a traditional college experience. -
11/21/2020
Monserrat Garcia Oral History, 2020/11/21
The freshmen experience has changed tremendously because of COVID-19, and this has forced the majority of them to adapt and change their routines in this new online learning environment. Attached is an interview with a St.Mary’s freshman’s experience as an online student, and how she has adapted to her environment in order to be successful in college during a pandemic. -
11/21/2020
Anonymous Oral History, 2020/11/21
St. Mary’s University (a liberal arts college) is filled with students struggling to find a balance between a new online learning environment and the pandemic, and there is a group of students who in particular have had a hard time. The freshmen of St. Mary’s is this group. This interview tells the experience of a freshman, and how she is handling this unique college experience. -
2020-10-20
University Campus Dining During Covid-19
With many indoor restrictions and social distancing rules to prevent the spread of Covid-19 cases, this year students have been choosing to dine more frequently outdoors rather than indoors. This photograph highlights how freshman year dining looked for me at Northeastern University during Covid-19. Although students are not allowed to be in large groups or eat in large groups indoors, many of us chose to eat just right outside of the dining hall. Luckily at Northeastern University's main dining halls International Village, there is a small green space park for students to gather, socialize, and eat together. This year Covid-19 has presented many difficult challenges, especially towards the reintroduction of education and a college school year. It's already hard to meet and make new friends as a freshman, but we try as best as we can to socialize wherever we can. In addition to eating, many activities and socials are also done outdoors to recreate the typical college experience in a safe manner. I'd say as students we are responsible or at least most of us try to be responsible because we are all looking forward to the day we can just be normal college students and get that normal college experience. -
10/16/2020
Valeria Rodriguez Oral History, 2020/10/16
In this interview Valeria Rodriguez shares about her experience as a St. Mary's University Freshman studying virtually from her home in Honduras. She highlights the ways in which she has overcome challenges and continues to look at the bright side of things. I believe that Valeria's perspective is powerful because her story shows her resilience and can inspire many other International students going through a similar situation. -
2020-11-09
Freshman Year Experience
I had decided to go to Northeastern before COVID-19 shut down the US, and was planning on studying abroad in Rome. I had always wanted to go to Europe and I love Italian food so I was devastated when I had to pick a new location because of the spike in cases in Italy. I then settled on London and although I was nervous to study abroad, I was genuinely excited to be away in Europe for a semester. After we were offered the option of Boston, I decided to stay in Boston just so I could adjust to campus along with the other freshman. The first few weeks were definitely difficult and it took time to adjust to making friends when we weren't allowed to gather in groups or go into each others rooms. For freshman, it was an especially difficult time because we knew no one and COVID rules made it harder to meet people. I struggled in the beginning but after the first few weeks I really was able to adjust to school and COVID at the same time. -
09/18/2020
Pearl Rincon Oral History, 2020/09/18
I sat down for an interview with first-year Northeastern University student Pearl Rincon. We spoke about her her experience with the pandemic, her transition to online learning, and how her life changed during the quarantine. -
09/18/2020
Sophia Akhter Oral History, 2020/09/18
This interview with Sophia Akhter shares insight into the life of a college freshman and highlights how the Covid-19 pandemic effected her. -
2020-04-29
The Last Week
A personal account. -
2020-04-07
Daily Schedule during Quarantine March
My daughter is a HS freshman and has been at home since March 16. This was her very early on schedule for her day. School was just transitioning to remote learning and the days were more free-form. We have 8 pets of various sizes and varieties so the 'pet hour' is a very important way to stay relaxed. Photo taken April 7, 2020. Document created late March 2020 just when schools closed.