My return to campus

It has been approximately 320 days since I last lived on campus. Or, in other words, nearly a year since the COVID-19 pandemic started to take hold and St. Kate’s pushed for students to leave campus for an extended spring break to try and help stop the spread. Though some students moved back in the fall, I did not. My classes were all still online last semester, but with the possibility of one class being in-person this semester, it made sense to come back as soon as I could.

The process of coming back to St. Kate’s was nearly the same as it had been before. The long drive, having to plan enough to arrive before the move-in time, needing to stop every couple of hours to stretch and rest. The differences were small, ones that were becoming familiar because of the pandemic. Restaurants were closed, which meant eating drive-thru food in the car. Rest areas had fewer cars than in previous years, and most of the other vehicles on the highway were semi trucks. It was the first major trip I had taken since moving out last year, but the differences had become an odd norm.

A couple of days after arriving in Minnesota, I finally moved into the dorms. There seemed to be almost no one on campus, both during my move-in time and the couple of days after. The most people I saw in those early days were there when I went to get a COVID test on campus, and that was only a small handful. There was very little social interaction, and very few people to properly connect to. The first few days were filled with settling in properly and adjusting to campus. New habits had to be formed, such as doing the daily COVID screening; learning how to order ahead from the dining hall without someone instructing me; having to navigate all the different options for leaving my room that I had not been informed about. Communal spaces were open but limited in how many people could be there, the coffee shop had moved out of The Pulse, and the dining hall was open to sit and eat in. 

The start of February and classes last week brought a few more people. Campus has begun to come back to life again. Though there does not seem to be the usual lunch crowd every day around noon after classes, there are more people than before. A few friendly faces here and there, acquaintances from last year, but nothing like the campus has been before. Quiet conversations in the dining hall had replaced the noise that came with lunch, few people sit in the lounge outside of the bookstore, and the lines for packages at the post office are nearly nonexistent. All of those things I never would have imagined seeing on campus.

I have noticed the biggest difference in the dorms. While it could be because I am in a different situation than last year, it is still eerily quiet like the other spaces on campus. There are a lot more empty rooms, and I have only seen a handful of people in the building since I moved in. Most of the time, it feels like a ghost town. Silent, the doors shut, and sometimes a noise from upstairs that helps to remind me that I am not alone in the building. Compared to the loud floor from last year, where I could always find someone to study with or eat a meal with, it is a shock. The pandemic has drastically changed what it is like to be on campus.

Though there are a lot of things that feel foreign to me on campus, I am excited for what the future holds. I have finally been able to go to the gym again since coming to campus. I am able to walk down the street to Target and shop for things to try and brighten up my dorm. I am able to be back in Minnesota and connect with friends I lost contact with due to the distance. 

As my social life has been nearly nonexistent since the pandemic hit and I moved off of campus, I am excited to see the opportunities that are being provided for students on campus to connect. Classes may be online for now, but I am excited by the chance that they may move back to being in-person in a few months, even if it is for a short period of time. I’m looking forward to seeing what will happen despite all the changes and challenges that have occurred in the 320 days since I have last been on campus, and I hope to fill each day on campus with something new.