ONTARIO, N.Y. — With the Spring 2022 semester underway for college students around the country, COVID-19 cases are trending downward. According to John Hopkins University, the United States has had new infections fall 5.7 percent over the past two weeks.
Yet with cases declining and relaxing guidelines, one question remains: do college students feel safe in the classroom?
Vaccination or No Vaccination
As the semester begins, colleges have different guidelines for their students regarding the COVID-19 vaccine. One of those is SUNY Brockport. As per SUNY’s vaccination policy, all students must be fully vaccinated by Jan 31 to attend in-person classes.
William Perrigo, 22, is in his final semester studying Kinesiology at Brockport and plans to become a physical therapist. He believes SUNY acted promptly with its vaccine mandate.
“I believe we must hold each other accountable and we are all part of the same moral community,” Perrigo said. “We have to hold each other to a certain standard and if it’s getting a shot to keep each other safe, I am all for it.”
But not all schools like SUNY Brockport have a vaccination requirement.
One of those is Southeastern University, a private institution in Lakeland, Florida. According to the school’s updated COVID-19 plans, masks and vaccinations are optional for students and staff.
Morgan Soucy is a junior at the university, studying early childhood education. Although vaccines are optional, Soucy says she is fully vaccinated, but not because of her health.
“SEU offers a trip to Israel in April and I want to go,” Soucy said. “I didn’t want to get vaccinated, but I knew if I wanted to go on this trip, I had to get it.”
*Note: D’Youville has not released updated COVID-19 guidance for students and staff since August 2021.
With opportunities opening up, there is hope COVID-19 cases will peak soon. Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told ABC’s Martha Raddatz he is confident cases will peak in mid-February.
Two Years of Missed Opportunities
But as COVID-19 guidelines change, missed opportunities cannot be forgotten. Since 2020, college students have had their college experience altered.
Kaylin Kilpatrick is one of them. Pursuing her doctorate in physical therapy at D’Youville College in Buffalo, she says she has learned too much through Zoom. And she believes it has put her and her classmates in a rough spot.
“We had to learn our goniometric measurements and manual muscle testing through Zoom, something you must learn in person to be successful in,” Kilpatrick said. “Those aspects have made us feel behind, and while our professors help any way they can, it is difficult to feel caught up with the other classes before us.”
Kilpatrick’s frustrations are not alone. According to a survey by intelligent.com, 57.3% of students said their ability to learn has been somewhat worse or much worse.
Although virtual learning looks to be here to stay, other students have missed internships. Perrigo says the pandemic hurt his opportunity for field experience during his sophomore year.
“I was trying to get an internship since I had a broader understanding of the human body,” he said. “I was emailing with the internship coordinator throughout February 2020, and then I received a sympathy email saying they were canceling it due to the pandemic, which was tough.”
What Will You Remember?
As pandemic fears diminish, the hope of a vibrant Spring semester waits for college students. However, the memories of a COVID-riddled world remain.
For Perrigo, being rushed to move out of his dorm room will always stick in his mind.
“I will never forget moving out of my dorm because sophomore spring was the peak of my college experience,” he said. “I had the best group of friends, and then I did not see them until August, which was rough.”
Kilpatrick strikes a different tone.
“I hope to remember how lucky I was to go to classes and learn throughout this pandemic,” she said. “I hope to forget how scary it was, but I will always remember how D’Youville gave us the tools to overcome it.”
