Grads share lessons learned from college in a pandemic

By

CalMatters

Eight months into my first year at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, in May 2021, I visited the university campus for the first time. Because of the pandemic, I was taking class virtually from 200 miles away, and repeated COVID-19 spikes pushed a campus visit down on my list of priorities.

Seeing San Luis Obispo for the first time made me reflect on how I only had one school year to spend in the city and soak up all that was left in my undergraduate experience. Making the most of that time was significant for me — I am a graduate of El Camino College, and transferring to a university from a community college in the middle of the pandemic wasn’t an easy transition.

I made a grand total of five friends during a year of school over Zoom. I clung to the idea that things would be different in the fall, when I moved to San Luis Obispo for my first, last and only in-person year at Cal Poly.

When I got on campus, it felt great but at some points, col- lege felt super lonely. Other times felt overwhelming, and full of grief: I lost loved ones and friends to COVID-19 and other health conditions. I was facing burnout, too.

I know I’m not alone. Going to college during a pandemic has been challenging, stressful, and anxiety-inducing for many students. At least for me, out of those challenges came counting the small wins, like completing an assignment on time or cooking something tasty. In a month, I’ll be able to walk the stage at a graduation ceremony — something not every graduating class got to experience during this pandemic. That’s a welcome bookend signifying that despite everything hurled at me and my peers, we made it to the end.

The CalMatters College Journalism Network talked to other California students as they wrapped up their college careers. Here are their stories in their own words — what they’ve learned, how they’ve changed, and what it’s like to navigate college in a pandemic. (Comments have been edited for length and clarity.)

— Omar Rashad

Carrie Young Scripps College

Art major

I took a year off during the pandemic, so the idea of coming back for my senior year was super strange. I felt like I was living my life — I had a job (at a museum back home), and I was doing all this stuff outside of college. I couldn’t conceptualize being a student again.

When I came back to school, a lot of my initial class had graduated. It definitely felt kind of like coming back to like a ghost town a little bit. It felt like being a freshman again, in a weird way.

Having that year off changed my understanding of what it means to be a student a ton. Having the space away from school was really validating in realizing that I can create a life for myself that’s really wonderful — and where I felt like I was learning a ton and it wasn’t within this super tiny institution. And then when I came back to school, I think I felt so much more agency in terms of creating that kind of space and those communities at school.

This semester has been the best semester of all of my time in college because I just stopped having the value system of what

I’ve been told college should look like. I’ve overloaded myself on things that aren’t school in a lot of really good ways.

I’ve been working at two of the on-campus art centers and teaching classes for those and running the roller skating club. I feel like I’ve gotten really into the things that really matter to me and have not been putting my energy into things that don’t.

Journalism major

A few months before the pandemic, I started going to City College of San Francisco. One of my boyfriend’s friends said that they were offering free classes for people who were residents of San Francisco. So, I was like, ‘OK, that’s great. Let me go there and investigate what I need.’ I started with just

— Interviewed by Carolyn

Kuimelis

See LESSONS, Page 7 one class, an (English as a second language) class because I was not confident with my English level, and it was in-person for the first few months. And then when the pandemic happened, we started doing online classes. I know it’s kind of hard for many people to do classes online. But I wouldn’t have been able to go to college the way I did, if it wasn’t (for) the pandemic. I don’t have a car and live an hour away from college.

I was worried about the commute because I need to work. The pandemic allowed me to do both things at the same time.

Still, I suffered from a lot of anxiety because I’m a first-generation student so I didn’t know what to expect. And I put a lot of pressure on myself. I’m graduating with a 4.0. I feel amazing because of that, but I don’t know if it was worth it to cry every semester because I was stressed. My counselor, Anastasia, got me through it. She literally changed my life. Every semester I was like, ‘I’m not going to be able to do it. I’m not going to be able to do it.’ I remember crying and meeting with her, and she was always so supportive. I didn’t even know how to register for a class. Anastasia helped me a lot with that because I was super lost. For many years, I thought about going to college, but I was scared. You start thinking that you’re not intelligent, or it’s not your first language so it might be more difficult for you. I didn’t start because I was afraid. And now that I finished the first two years, it’s like ‘OK, I did it.’ And I did it in a big way — it helps a lot with how you see yourself and your self-confidence.

— Interviewed by Emily Margaretten

Alejandro Gatus

UC Berkeley Media Studies major

My experience at UC Berkeley before the pandemic was honestly cinematic. On (Admit Day) 2018, it was sunset and I was walking up this hill towards the Campanile. The light was hitting perfectly. They were playing one of my favorite instrumentals. Just having that scene and realizing that ‘Hey, I’m at my dream school, I accomplished it’— it felt really blissful and it was the start of an amazing journey at Berkeley.

I feel like during my senior year, I’ve been chasing that feeling. I didn’t have any in-person lectures, even during my last semester, even though Berkeley was on a hybrid model. It has kind of been a grieving process, realizing that I may never be in lecture halls again. I will never have another undergraduate experience.

Anyone can always be a student again. There’s masters or doctoral programs, but you can never be an undergrad again. It has made me really sad. What I’ve really taken away is that what matters is the people I surround myself with and knowing that those people will stay in my life.

I’ve felt jealous of the underclassmen who will get a full experience at Berkeley. I have some friends who are in their soph- omore year. Being around them and seeing that light in their eyes and the excitement they still carry — that I remember from my first year — eases away the jealousy because then I get excited and optimistic for them that we are getting out of this pandemic and they will get these experiences.

— Interviewed by Itzel Luna

Omar Zintan Mwinila-Yuori

Pomona College

Computer Science major, Math and French minor (The pandemic) taught me that it’s possible to survive, like, no matter what the situation is.

First of all, I’m abroad. This is not my home (Ghana). And so being in that situation, I feel like a lot could have gone wrong. I could have been really stranded or very lonely or See LESSONS, Page 9

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