Drake University Written Work
How students are feeling: What are your plans, feelings and thoughts about going back to college this Fall?
Kendall Hunt
Sophomore
Hello! My name is Kendall Hunt, and I attend Drake University in Iowa.
It is a very uncertain time for everyone, and I felt especially depressed during the pandemic as a D-1 athlete. Throughout quarantine, I have been training extremely hard so I would be able to return to my sport fitter and ready to compete at a higher level. But the thought of not being able to play after training long hard hours every day of the summer has taken a toll on my mental health. So, my plan is to go back to school and be as safe as possible. I will be taking all necessary precautions so I might be able to fulfill my dream of playing my sport this fall. Additionally, the way I see it, we are given only 4 years of college (for most). 4 years!! That is not a lot of time. I’ve lived at home my entire life and I could live at home again after college if I really wanted to. But you can’t take back those 4 years where you could be meeting your lifelong friends and just learning to be on your own in a different environment. So while I am worried about the virus, my priority remains on going back to school to live. I do not want to live my entire life in fear; I am willing to risk getting the virus so I can do the things I love and be happy again.
Brooke Busch
Freshman
My name is Brooke Busch and I will be attending Drake University in the fall. For the fall 2020 semester I plan to go back to classes in person while still following all of the university’s protocols and policies to keep Covid-19 under control the best they can. Though I am going back I am not very optimistic about getting through the fall without having to transition to fully online classes at some point in the fall. I feel that with the numbers of students that colleges have in attendance, especially the bigger schools, it will be difficult to follow the recommended CDC guidelines. Quite frankly, I am scared to go back to in person classes, but also know that I do not learn and retain information well from online classes. Personally, I do not think schools should be fully reopening so quickly with such little experience on how to function during a pandemic. I plan to go back, but I will do so with much caution and skepticism.
Maddi Kedrowski
Sophomore
I am very excited to go back to school and see all my friends but I am slightly concerned that we will just be sent back home within a few weeks. I understand the need for curfews in dorm buildings to prevent students from going out to parties, but that also will prevent me from having a job! I am excited to go back though, and I think if students follow the guidelines the school has set up for us we will make it through this!
Lauren Igbanugo
Sophomore
At first I was going to stay home and do online classes, but then I thought about the situation a little bit more and decided it would be best for my academics to come back to campus. Initially, my reason for wanting to stay home was obviously because of coronavirus. However, based on the precautions Drake University is taking and the options they gave us regarding living situations, I knew it would be possible for me to attend college on campus safely. I came to realize that the true reason I did not want to go back to college was because I had gotten comfortable with our current situation. Back at home I had everything I needed pretty much handed to me, which is why I had to force myself to do something out of my comfort zone; I don't want this pandemic to deter my transitioning into adulthood. My plans for this academic year will be to use this pandemic as an opportunity to better prioritize my personal and school goals, and to plan how to keep a similar routine going when the pandemic is over!
Everett Mullican
Senior
I plan to try my best to live and maintain a normal lifestyle, I'd assume others will too with the caution of distancing themselves from others safely, whatever their lifestyle may be. I feel that when I am around campus, I will have a sense of unease around me, as many don't want to get sick, which is understandable. However, it will still make me feel uncomfortable due to the abnormality of these new rules we must follow. It's as if I will feel on edge about visiting my friends, as I must limit myself from seeing them all at once.
I am a commuter student, which is hard enough to get connected on campus, now I feel that may be close to impossible now. For me, had I not been able to participate and learn in one in-person class this semester, I would not have put myself under the "Going back to college" category. I'd be sitting at home, watching a screen for hours a day (which I'll still be doing). I want to go back to college and visit my friends and go to large gatherings, but the opinion I give is certainly selfish, but I hope others feel the same as I do, it isn't wrong to feel this way, at least I hope not. How could it? Parden my opinion over wanting to do so, but I didn't plan on paying the full cost of last year for online schooling. My thoughts are that I hope that get the same education I would have if none of this had happened, at this point, that's all I can ask for. I still realize I am fortunate to even go to college this year. But I'm thankful that I'm able to even go back.
Kylee Macke
Senior
Currently, my plan for the fall semester this fall is taking all of my classes online. I am a student athlete at Drake University, so I did this with the intention that we would have a volleyball season this fall. So, switching to online was more precautionary for myself, my team, and other students as we would’ve been traveling out of state. Obviously all fall sports got cancelled, but I do believe I still would’ve switched to online regardless because it was the safer, and more comfortable thing to do. But, in regards to my thoughts and feelings about going back this fall, it does make me a bit angry that universities encouraged and wanted us to come back & now we are under strict rules and could face expulsion if we were to break them. Obviously, the rules are very logical and they make sense considering we are in the middle of a pandemic, but it is clear that most universities around the country were concerned strictly about the money and not the students well being. Again, this makes sense but as a student athlete, we as a group have been targeted by administration and are definitely under stricter rules than the other kids which is somewhat irritating. I would love for everything to go back to normal because this whole situation makes me sad for freshman who do not get to experience a normal college life their first year, and it makes me sad as a senior that this might be how my whole last year goes as well.
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Lucy Panfil
Junior
I am anxious about going back to college this fall. I of course want to go back and be with my friends and everything, but I am nervous about getting sick. While I know that myself and my roomates are taking the proper precautions as to not be exposed to the virus, I know that others are not. As careful as I am, I am sure to come into contact with someone who was not careful. In addition to being worried about my health and the health of those around me, I am also not really looking forward to online classes. All but one of my classes is online, which I 100% understand for safety reasons, but I am not a fan of online classes. No matter how great the professor is, you just never learn as much in an online class than you do in an in-person class. So overall, I guess I am unsure about how to feel about going back to college. There are changes that are being made that I normally wouldn't like, but I understand that under these certain circumstances they are necessary.
Taryn Ripple
Junior
The first emotion that comes to mind is guilt. It seems selfish of me to return to college in the midst of a global pandemic, and I seriously considered not coming back to school this fall. Why would I travel 300 miles from home and pay hefty private school tuition when I could get the same education at the price of in-state tuition from the relative safety of my home? In the end, the appeal of getting out of my parents' house and living in an off-campus apartment won me over and here I am. And while it's a relief to be on my own again, it's hard to ignore all the impending terribleness and what-ifs everyone seems to be semi-aware of.
My friends and I jokingly discuss how likely we are to be sent home within the month, but I'm pretty sure that deep down we all know we're being serious. At this point, though, I don't see much point in dwelling on what is to come. Maybe a "we'll cross that bridge when we get there" mindset isn't the greatest outlook to adhere to, but it's the best I can do.
As for plans, I have none. My whole life I have rolled with the punches as they come, and I sure don't intend to stop now.
Rachel Hartley
Junior
"This semester, I made the very difficult decision to learn entirely remotely using only online
learning platforms. Since March, I think most college students have mourned in one way
or another their loss of a true college experience. All my life, I have dreamed about going off to college, learning to be independent, and being able to live “the best four years of our lives” before I have to settle down with a career. And not to sound dramatic, but I honestly feel "jipped' of a college experience. No one wants to spend the end of their sophomore year and the first semester of their junior year completely isolated from their friends and educators, yet unfortunately that’s our reality. As you can probably tell, I am quite saddened by this reality. I love my family, but I was really looking forward to being around people my own age again. In addition, school itself is going to be a challenge. My main source of communication with faculty is through email and zoom, meaning I am solely relying on stable wifi connection and computer screens to get through the semester. Am I nervous at all? A little, but I’m an anxious person in general. I’m more nervous for my close friends who are risking getting sick by returning to school. I am also nervous about classes, especially considering I am one of the only students in all my classes who chose to stay home. Overall, life goes on... After all, we are technically in college to get a degree anyway."
Tabatha Hill
Senior
I'm a senior. As for my feelings about going back to class is that if going online works for students then great but some students benefit more from being inside the class room. As for my plans it's just to roll with it and make it work the best I can to get my degree.
Sydney Clifton
Senior
At the beginning of all of this, I found myself equal amounts of terrified and joyful at the thought of life slowing down. I was terrified, as most others were, about the severity of the virus and could only find myself researching the rising number of fatalities around the world. I was joyful knowing that this would be the time I could finally reconnect with myself, evaluate what was happening, where I was going, and for what purpose I was doing this. The months passed by, and I realized quickly this wasn't going away, and eventually I was going to have to go back to school in some form. Complacency turned to anxiety. How was this going to work? Were we even going back at all? Everything became so complicated as solution after solution was released. I decided for the health and safety of me and my family I would take online classes this semester.
Now choosing this, I begin to wonder if it was worth it. It is my senior year-the last year I will ever have in school, and my last chance to experience university. I am tired of letting the virus dampen my life experiences (and job market to be honest). I am deeply hoping next semester will be better, and human interaction won't be dangerous.
Cheyann Neades
Senior
I plan to try to stay off campus as much as possible. I didn’t request to have all my classes be in an online format and I’m kind of regretting it since the number of cases in Iowa are so high right now. I’m starting to feel guilty because I know I could be putting myself and others at risk just to sit in a classroom. The days leading up to the start of school feel weird this year, it feels like I’m hoping for the best and preparing for the absolute worse.