Ariana Wilson
Reporter
We all have different thoughts about returning to school this fall. Some are anxious, and wondering what in person school will look like, while others have been hoping to start school for a while. For a lot of people there are anticipations and anxieties about returning to school this fall. For some, this is an exciting new chapter that you’ve been waiting to dive into headfirst. As we return to campus, faculty and students have shared a few things that they hope will help ease us back in.
The world can anticipate a social disconnect due to the lack of interaction people have experienced in the past year. Social media and the internet have created a limit to which people extend human interaction. There is no longer the experience of speaking face to face with another person. If it can be said in a message, a text, or a call then there isn’t a need to see the other person. Communications Professor Amy Young says, “I think our communication skills have sharpened in some ways because we’ve had to be inventive, we’ve had to use different tools, we’ve had to find and create community in ways we probably had never had to before.” Being shoved into online learning was an unfamiliar process and lifestyle that we had to learn to adjust to much faster than we could learn what we were expected to do.
A 2020 high school graduate and current sophomore at The University of Washington- Tacoma admits, “The summer when quarantine began was one of the loneliest times of my life. In those moments and even now, I’m reminded not to take community for granted. I never realized how much I needed physical human interaction until it was taken away.” This was the case for many students, and while some found new ways to occupy their time or enjoyed the online environment, it was a hard time for many people, and some are still learning how to be an in-person student.
Having to finish my last year of high school online was difficult in itself, and as the year progressed, each day began to look like the last and it seemed as if there was no end in sight. This fall was fast approaching for new graduates, and through the adversity, I am grateful for the change, because I had the opportunity to grow and learn to reflect on myself as an individual. I have had to become a very proficient communicator whether that be with family, friends, or educators. Professor Amy Young says, “The reason we are at an institution like PLU is that we want to teach and because we value actually knowing our students as whole people, not just as bodies in a classroom. Second, reach out in a way that makes YOU feel comfortable. It can feel intimidating to approach college professors or just show up for student hours. But meeting with students is my job and it’s my passion.” Bridging the gap between people is an evolving effort that takes time and patience, but difficult things become easier if we do things together.
As college approached and a new year began, Tosin Faleke, a UW Tacoma student reflected, “Now that I’m taking my second year of college in person, I’m grateful for the ways I had to adapt socially. I am more eager to meet people, and I cherish every moment I have in their presence.” Quarantine brought its own challenges not including the external factors that in no way correlated to the world’s current events. Being someone who doesn’t naturally gravitate towards being around people I need time to myself. Days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months and the longer we stayed inside the longer I realized how much I was missing the genuine interaction I coveted when I would see my friends on the weekends or visit loved ones across the country. There is not a thing in my life that seems too small to be significant.
