First, second-year students reflect on online ‘new normal’
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — It was all alien to him. Greg Costanzo scrolled through his phone’s photos, gazing at the memories of his first semester at Penn State. No masks. No social distance. No Zoom. How the times have changed, he thought.
Costanzo is a second-year student at Penn State, and like other first and second-year students, the majority of his collegiate career has been online. With the spring semester coming to a close and the imminent return of in-person instruction, Costanzo and others can’t help but think of the changes to come.
“I don’t remember what it was like to go to class,” Costanzo said. “I think it would be weird for me to go back.”
It has been so long since Costanzo has had an in-person lecture in a traditional lecture hall, that he feels he’d need to recondition himself to that style of learning.
“It feels far away, like a distant memory. I’ve spent so much time sitting in one or two of the same rooms studying and doing homework, that this is what I associate with schoolwork now,” Costanzo said.
Costanzo does feel that he may be able to pay more attention to an in-person lesson, and so may not need to study as much as he does now. He also participates in linguistics research on campus, and believes in-person activities will better his research.
While there is some optimism for Costanzo regarding a switch back to in person, he also finds the time spent online jarring. When he entered the pandemic Costanzo was still a teenager; he was only in his second semester of school.
When the pandemic ends — depending on how vaccination and other efforts play out — he’d at least be 21 and could be in his final year of college. Costanzo feels as if time is closing in as the end of his career at Penn State draws near.
“[It’s] sort of daunting and kind of sad. I would like that experience,” Costanzo said.
Aziz Salamy, a fourth-year student a Penn State, sympathizes with Costanzo and acknowledges that first and second year students may be missing crucial experiences.
“The main thing they are missing out on is growing their social circle and expanding their cultural awareness,” Salamy said. “It’s very hard to meet new people during quarantine, and because of that, students are hanging out with people they already know. There’s no room for growth.”
George Fagan, a first-year student at Penn State, agrees.
“[The pandemic] definitely impacts the kind of social networks you can build,” Fagan said. “There’s a difference between meeting people just in a Zoom room versus being in person being like: Hey do you want to grab lunch and study after this?”
Fagan would have joined clubs to build his social circle as well. Having participated in Model UN in high school, Fagan was interested in joining a similar club while at Penn State as well as the school’s Society of Physics Students but found similar obstacles.
“The whole point of being in a club, at least for me, is meeting people and getting to do a bunch of cool stuff in person. I’m not willing to take the risk of catching COVID to do that this year,” Fagan said.
Social networking is not the only thing that has been altered for first-year students, but actual schoolwork as well.
“Doing [a] lab online really sucks,” Fagan said. “I just watch other people do the experiments and have to write down what they did.”
With that said, Fagan is not totally disappointed with the switch to online.
After graduating from high school, Fagan took a gap year abroad in Germany and suffered a back injury while moving back to the U.S. Fagan required surgery and extensive recovery, meaning getting to in-person classes would have been troublesome.
“The first few months last semester were spent recovering from surgery, so not having to commute [was] a massive boon for me,” Fagan said.
As for Fagan missing out traditional college experiences like going to sporting events and socializing, he’s not too torn up.
“There’s still years to go,” Fagan said. “It’s just being pushed back.”
Ariel Simpson, a fourth-year student at Penn State, acknowledges that college is different for first-year students.
“I couldn’t imagine being a freshman coming into this,” Simpson said. “They miss out on their freshman experience.”
A part of that “freshman experience” also comes in the form of on-campus opportunities which Simpson wonders about for younger students. Second-year student Omar Darras does as well.
“There were a lot of clubs I wanted to participate in and wanted to be a part of campus life this year, but they all became online and then I feel like attending one would kind of be like a chore at that point,” Darras said. “It wasn’t what I wanted it to be. The opportunities were lost.”
Darras is an international student who spent the first part of his second year studying online at home in the city of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. Because of the time difference, most of his classes were scheduled in the middle of the night, which added obstacles to his attendance and comprehension.
“At that point it was an absolute chore. My night turned into day,” Darras said. “It was tough. My psyche definitely took a hit.”
Because of the challenging circumstances surrounding the eight hour time difference, Darras moved back to State College for the second half of his academic year to better focus on his courses.
“It was not college,” Darras said of the online experience. “People called it Zoom University, it wasn’t even that.”
While back in State College, Darras has had the chance to take courses in person and has noticed the difference.
“Those classes feel like they’re actual classes,” Darras said.
Outside of his desire to completely return to in-person, the impending switch has also given Darras perspective on his Penn State specific experiences.
“I’ve only been to one football game. I didn’t have the time,” Darras said. “Then in my second year when I felt like I did actually have some time, I was back at home — when there were no football games.”
Darras feels that he has missed some quintessential Penn State experiences, and like other first and second year students, will see the return to normal come at the end of his collegiate career.
“I just feel like the world is moving at you very fast,” Darras said. “My freshman year, even my college experience, half of it has definitely been robbed. I’ve lost a whole year.”
