College students discuss campus life in 2020
Just like everything else in 2020, college life has been significantly affected by COVID19. For freshmen who are living away from home for the first time, they’ve had to adapt to the many rules and restrictions that have taken away some of the the freedom that typically comes with campus life. Yahoo Life checked in with college freshmen living in dorms around the country to get a sense of what their experience is like so far.
Video Transcript
MILES SOLOMON: You know, we'll either go insane by not being able to talk to people, or we'll talk to people and we'll interact and then we'll spread COVID and then we'll have to go home. So it's a lose-lose.
SAMANTHA RHEINGOLD: I feel like everyone talks about, like, the dorm experience. And even with everything going on, I still wanted to have that experience.
LOUIS CIANO: I was most nervous about being isolated and by myself in my dorm. I was a little worried that I would only be able to be around my roommates. That's kind of the situation that's currently happening right now.
JAMIE COSLET: Newly due to COVID, we're all in singles. So normally we would each have a roommate.
MILES SOLOMON: The biggest thing right now that I have to deal with is the limited freedom. Yes, I'm in New York City. Yes, I'm in college. But there's so much rules in place that it's hard to live your fullest life here.
LOUIS CIANO: We can't go into other residence halls. My two suitemates are the only people who are allowed in my room.
JAMIE COSLET: We can only go into our dorm building. We're actually asked to wear masks when we're in the common area with our suitemate as well.
LOUIS CIANO: The only places we're allowed to eat are either in parks or our dorm.
MILES SOLOMON: We cannot sit in the dining hall. We have to go in, get out.
SAMANTHA RHEINGOLD: My sorority, it used to be, like, a bunch of tables. You can sit wherever, do whatever. But it's, like, to-go boxes now, and in the past it was just normal plates.
LOUIS CIANO: We're only allowed to be in groups of five. If I'm with my suitemates, that's already three people. I think it's sometimes a little difficult to meet people from other halls just because we're not allowed to go into them.
MILES SOLOMON: You have to go out of your way now to make friends. You have to really put in work. You have to schedule stuff. It's not-- it's not normal now.
SAMANTHA RHEINGOLD: It's scary. So going out, it's like a safety hazard every single time. A lot of people, I feel like, are just kind of keeping to themselves, like, being careful, being safe.
LOUIS CIANO: I definitely wish I had in-person classes because I would be able to interact with the teachers and students more.
JAMIE COSLET: It's definitely a lot harder getting to know people. Some of my classes, they're big intro classes. So it's just prerecorded lectures. I think just the fact that we're not allowed to go into other people's dorms really limits the people that we can interact with. A lot of people are sticking to hanging out with their roommates.
SAMANTHA RHEINGOLD: There hasn't been any, like, big social events, like, with a lot of people, clearly. Most people are doing just kind of smaller, like, apartment things. There's not much going on.
MILES SOLOMON: I was planning on doing, you know, the freshman plays. But now it's just kind of weird. Everything's online. I just don't really want to do that stuff over Zoom.
LOUIS CIANO: I was originally planning to run track and field for NYU, but I decided against it.
JAMIE COSLET: A lot of on-campus clubs and organizations are on hold for now because they can't do in-person meetings. So I haven't signed up for anything yet. Everyone who's on campus right now, we're all in the same boat. We want to get into the groove of a new routine.
I think because people don't really want to go to different restaurants and bars and there are no parties going on, it's kind of more wholesome. And people ask where you're from, what are you interested in, and get to know each other.
MILES SOLOMON: I hope that we, as a school, can come together and really commit to getting through this coronavirus safely so we can all be in our dream city, in our dream college and not have to go home, which would be much worse for all of us. I'd much rather be here than be at home.
