The return to campus after being online
August 11, 2022
After about 2 years online, the restrictions have loosened, mask mandates were lifted throughout the province (but still required on-campus) and post-secondary institutions are putting in great effort to make the return to campus a success.
For students like myself who have mainly been online since the beginning of their post-secondary journey, it’s kind of exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time. It’s nice to be able to have the university experience we have always imagined, but online university courses are the only thing we know. It raises some concern among students like myself about how well we can do in a completely in-person setting. I loved being able to have access to lecture recordings in case I needed to revisit something or if the WIFI cut out. But I also feel like being in a physical classroom with my peers will not only help me have more energy during class time but also encourage me to participate and work together with my peers. But, as a student going into their third year and still not knowing many of my peers (just like many other students) because the pandemic didn’t allow for many opportunities to meet other students, I feel like my first in-person class will give me the same nervousness as if it was my first day of the first year in university.
I also loved that I saved so much time by not having to commute to class. But I also feel like I’ve missed out on the opportunity to participate in the majority of my labs and build necessary skills that an incoming third-year student should be familiar with and comfortable with. Even though we know, we didn’t get as much practical experience as we would have liked.
I know the return to campus will still be odd and we never really know how the situation is going to turn out but we can only hope for the best. I look forward to being back in person and encourage other students not to feel overwhelmed by any changes. We are all in the same boat and are all here to support each other. I’m looking forward to meeting some of my classmates as well as getting to know what an actual university experience is like, such as getting to go to events, sitting in full lecture halls and discovering new things.