IU announced classes would move online for two weeks after spring break on March 10, 2020. It was the start of a pandemic that would reshape lives and what it meant to be a student. When COVID-19 procedures lead to hybrid in-person and virtual learning for the fall 2020 and spring 2021 semesters, students faced new rules and safety protocol, disrupting many parts of the traditional college experience.
The anniversary of the coronavirus canceling classes and shutting down the country is leading many students to reflect on how their lives have changed in the past year. The Indiana Daily Student asked three students how it affected them.
Students said they’ve experienced struggle and discovery throughout the past year. Online classes, isolation and fear of the virus has led to increased anxiety, and pushing through it all has helped them learn more about themselves and the world around them.
Related: [See Bloomington in pictures from after spring break 2020]
The students said being in quarantine and adjusting to virtual learning also led to a downfall in mental well-being.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said 74.9% of people ages 18 to 24 said they had at least one “adverse mental or behavioral health symptom” due to the pandemic, according to a June 2020 report. Eighty percent of college students surveyed said COVID-19 was detrimental to their mental health due to issues such loneliness, according to an Active Minds report from April 2020.
Junior Anna Sowka said she started having nightmares about forgetting to wear her mask to the grocery store a month into the pandemic. The dreams left her shaken, Sowka said.
When she’s in public, she said she feels vulnerable around a lot of people because she’s never sure if she’s around someone who has COVID-19. When she's been tested for COVID-19, she said her anxiety spikes.
“Everything just feels very uncertain,” Sowka said. “I get a lot of anxiety of like, what if it’s positive? What am I going to do?”
Sowka only has one in-person class and spends most of her time on Zoom lectures while she also does chores and other work around her Bloomington apartment. She said she feels some professors tried to make up for online instruction by creating many smaller assignments, and it’s easy to forget about those smaller tasks.
“I’m just constantly behind on everything and just playing catch up,” Sowka said.
Freshmen have experienced difficulties due to the pandemic during their first year at college. Some have struggled to connect with peers and find activities to do, and others say there have been technological issues.
Freshman Marlin Walker, who lives on campus, said the pandemic forced him to examine his mental health for the first time.
“I didn’t think it would ever deteriorate the way it did,” Walker said. “During lockdown, I think my mental health did take a hit as far as anxiety and just from everything going on.”
Walker said he didn’t initially have many hobbies to keep him busy because he was usually out with friends before the pandemic. After a few months, though, he adjusted a bit more to life during COVID-19 and developed graphic design and editing skills.
“It taught me more about myself and about my surroundings because I’m learning new things, gaining new hobbies and just learning more about the outside world and to be more appreciative of it,” Walker said.
After a year, he said he is better at time management and online school. Guided meditation has helped ease his stress levels, he said.
“You just gotta take a step back sometimes and just take a deep breath in,” Walker said. “Count to ten or whatever you prefer, and everything will be OK.”
Walker said he had dreams of how he wanted to spend his freshman year at IU. He said he had plans to study abroad in college, but he isn’t sure that will be possible. Being at IU is still fun in general, he said, because the little things such as being away from home and meeting new people add up.
Freshman Annalysa Mwaura said being a first-year student in college now feels a bit like the beginning of quarantine because of how isolated it can be.
“You get lonely,” Mwaura said. “Even if you’re with your family, it’s not really the same as being out in the public.”
She compared coming to terms with the pandemic to going through the five stages of grief. She said quarantine was the most she’d ever been alone and spent her time doing a lot of thinking, sleeping, and taking many walks.
Despite the hardship the pandemic has brought her, Mwaura said being active outside and finding ways to be content that weren’t related to her social life has helped her mental health.
“You’re feeling like, ‘What if I’m missing out? What if I’m not doing enough?’” Mwaura said. “But it’s also like, ‘I should give myself some slack. It’s okay to feel like you’re hopeless, because that’s what the majority of the world is feeling like.’”
