By Giana Levy
The spread of COVID-19 adversely impacted college students across the nation. One of the leading groups impacted was students entering their freshman year of college and residing at home for their first year.
From missing the college experience on Clark Atlanta University's campus to adjusting to online learning, many college freshmen, who are now sophomores, did not receive the opportunity to experience the first year of what is considered to be "the best four years" of a person's life.
For Shekinah Burden, Sophomore Class President and Business Administration major, spending her freshman year at home was challenging due to the continuation of being in an online setting from her senior year of high school.
"It was challenging to know that I was missing out on a college experience that everyone talks about," Burden said.
While missing out on the college experience was one of the biggest challenges students faced, other hurdles included communicating with professors through email and via phone, remaining motivated throughout the school term and socializing with peers virtually.
"Transitioning as a college student and expecting to live the first year on campus, get the full experience, participate in activities and looking forward to all the traditions that historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) usually do, but then finding out that students were not able to return was unfortunate," Madysen Forney, Sophomore Vice President and business major, said.
Outside of academic challenges, Alexis Scott, Sophomore House of Delegates At-Large Representative and Political Science major, said co-occurring world events made her freshman year online experience more difficult. "Racial issues, police brutality and a presidential election happening while we were in school made my first year very overwhelming," Scott stated.
Despite the challenges, few students found online learning to be beneficial for their first year of college."I got the chance to connect and interact with more people, put myself out there more on social media and improve my communication skills," Burden said.
"In the end, I think remote learning was for the best because I did well in my studies," Paityn White, Navy ROTC and sophomore physics major, said. White continued, "At first, I was a little upset that I had to stay home, but I probably would have been slightly overwhelmed my first year on campus. Now that I am on campus, I am more well versed in my classes due to staying at home my freshman year."
While other colleges and universities began to re-open at full capacity and Clark Atlanta University remained a closed campus, the option of transferring to another school to receive that college experience elsewhere was not a thought that crossed these students' minds.
"I did not see myself being anywhere else. Clark Atlanta University has become a home for me. Being at an HBCU is something I hold near to my heart. I take pride in being at Clark Atlanta University because I know the value that this university has. Find a Way or Make One and Culture for Service are values that I believe in," Forney stated.
Since re-opening the campus with limited capacity in Spring 2021 to full capacity for the Fall '21 semester, the transition from online to in-person has had mixed reviews. While the transition has been smooth for some students, others have had to deal with less flexibility with re-adjusting to being in a classroom setting once again.
Regardless of the re-adjustments back to an in person setting, attending campus events, walking around campus, getting the full college experience and developing as young adults are what students are looking forward to the most this school year.