College Students React to Missing Out on the Spring Semester

By Piper Blake
Assistant Web Content Manager

Universities that have moved classes online during the COVID-19 pandemic have forced students to miss the end of their spring semester on campus and worry about how the virus will affect them in the long run.

 Two Texas State University seniors, Arlett Ramirez and Lauren Jurgemeyer, have had to miss out on the experience of finishing their final courses in person and walking the stage at their graduation on time.

“This is not the way I imagined my senior year or college experience ending; I’m sad at the way it’s panned out,” said Ramirez. “I felt like I didn’t get a conclusion to my senior year and it was cut short without me even having a say.”

Jurgemeyer had already ordered her cap and gown and invitations for graduation before this outbreak occurred. “I was pretty upset…but I have to remember that it will happen eventually,” said Jurgemeyer. 

Seniors aren’t the only ones missing their campus lives; other students are also missing out on the experiences the spring semester offers. 

Spencer King, a junior at Texas Tech University, said he is missing the changes that occur at the Texas Tech campus during the spring semester.

“The campus gets to be so lively because it’s the start of Spring: it starts to get warmer, plants look vibrant and it’s almost the end of the semester, ” said King. 

Since students were required to move home or find alternate living accommodations, many have reflected on how their campus life has been impacted by the Coronavirus. 

Ramirez said she misses being near campus and living on her own now that she has moved back home like many other students.

“I used to be able to go wherever I wanted, on my time. Now I just have to stay home, so I feel like I’m trapped,” said Ramirez.  “I had a whole other life in San Marcos, where I took care of myself and was independent.” 

Triston Wright, a Texas State industrial engineer major, said being back at home has had its ups and downs. 

“The fact that I am not living on my own anymore is discouraging, but I am fortunate that my family sees me as an adult and sees me as someone who has rights just like any one of my family members and treats me as such,” said Wright.

With the uncertainty of when the COVID-19 crisis will end, it has left many students wondering how and when their lives will get back to normal.

“We don’t know when it’s going to end, how many people will be affected by it and how it will change life after it is over,” said King.

Lauren Atkinson, a Texas Tech human development and human studies major, said that she is anxious to get back to life as it was.

“As hard as it can be during this time, I feel like it is important for people to take care of not only themselves but each other,” said King. “I feel like this is just as important as staying safe because this is something we can’t get through alone, no matter how much we want to believe it.”

Featured image by Piper Blake.