These last two years of school have been rough. From living and working through a pandemic, to attending Zoom classes and business meetings. Recently, schools have begun allowing in-person classes once again. Most would think a return to in-person classes would be a happy occasion, however it turns out that’s just not the case, according to a handful of New England College students. The reality, is a handful of mixed emotions.
During the second week in August, students arrived on campus to start the academic school year of 2021-2022. After move-in, students had the weekend to prepare for their classes and get ready for in-person classes. After the first few days of normal classes on August 18th, students were seen at Gilmore Dining Hall, the school’s cafeteria. When asked how they felt about being back, there were mixed reviews.
“I hate it, my math sucks, and my teachers suck. I have a class with 3 people and I’m still expected to go there,” said Will Chikara, a second-year student at NEC. “I have to take art online because my teachers went to a wedding, how do you expect me to draw online,” he said.
“I prefer to have in-person classes, it’s better,” said Kyle Hamilton. He also brought up the lack of attendance. “I have 2 classes with only 3 people in it so I don’t see the point,” Hamilton said.
NEC is a small school, so there were options to do remote learning. Hamilton felt that may be why class sizes seem to be small. On the other side of the spectrum students like Olivia Olson, apart of the freshman class, is excited to be back.
“It feels great to be back in person, it’s a lot different from being online and I feel people flourish more in-person than behind a computer screen,” Olson said.
“It feels good to see teachers face-to-face because it’s easier to ask them a question then to wait for an email response,” said Lindsey Bayes, who is also a freshman.
The school year is only picking up and there are still a lot of changes that students can look forward to in the future. The mask mandate is set to be lifted sometime in September which may encourage more students into the classroom knowing that they no longer have to wear that sweaty mask. Perhaps next semester, more students will return to campus. Only time will tell what lies ahead for New England College and its students.
