While university life can be stressful and challenging, campus activities typically make up for the hardships of college. The past 14 months, however, have seen students removed from the clubs and happenings once the normal of typical campus life.
Rosalia Ravelo is a senior at Stanislaus State University. She transferred from Modesto Junior College in January 2020. She only had 3 normal months at the university. before the campus closed down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I was so excited to finally get a taste of university life. I watched so many videos on tips and tricks to have a fun campus life. I was excited to make friends and do all the activities that are provided on campus,” Ravelo exclaimed. “I was excited to join clubs and attend games. Sadly, I was only able to enjoy my time on campus for 3 months,” Ravelo said.
The university sent students who lived on-campus home; it canceled in-person classes and moved entirely online. With no students on campus, sports stopped, and so did other extracurricular activities.
“Being in college is not cheap. I pay all this money to do classes online with no fun included. Of course, COVID-19 is not the university’s fault, but it does really suck not to have a normal experience in college. All these college movies really got my hopes up, and they were all crushed when I was not able to be on campus anymore,” Ravelo sighed. “I am over it now; there is nothing that can be done; I cannot just stop the pandemic. I am grateful for all the teachers that went through the switch, my heart goes out to them. I know it was challenging.”
Ravelo said she was very dissatisfied with her university experience because of Covid. She now graduates on May 28 and will be starting her new career soon.
