By Kelsey Purcell, Staff Writer
It has been an atypical first year at St. Bonaventure University for the freshmen class of 2024. The pandemic led to safety restrictions which created an unusual first year experience.
Masks are to be worn everywhere except for in dorm rooms, showers or in the dining halls when sitting and eating. Even when walking around outside on campus, students are required to wear a mask.
Sydney Flaitz, a freshman health science major said, “Wearing masks on campus is fine. It isn’t that much of a hassle, but it is weird that we can’t see our classmates’ faces.”
Social distancing is also enforced in classrooms. Desks and tables are spaced apart to abide by the new six feet apart protocol. Tables in the dining hall are also separated in a socially distant manner.
In order to follow the social distancing protocols, some classes were held in unconventional locations such as the dance room in the Sandra A. and William L. Richter Center, the Garret Theatre in Deveraux Hall and in the Reilly Center Hall of Fame.
“I had a class in the Hall of Fame and it was a little distracting,” said Flaitz. “It isn’t a classroom so there was a bunch of stuff hung up on the walls and the basketball court was visible from the room, but it wasn’t too bad. I would take a class in there again.”
Overall, Flaitz said she had a good first year experience at Bonaventure.
“Freshman year has been pretty good even though we’re in the middle of a pandemic. I’ve made friends and I like going to school at Bonaventure,” said Flaitz.
Other students expected more from their first year of college. Lorelei Kelley, a freshman adolescent education major, feels that her freshman year has not met her expectations because of the pandemic.
“It was very difficult to make friends or keep friends when we couldn’t go to other floors and inside other people’s rooms,” said Kelley. “We still can’t go into other buildings. This made it extremely hard to get the typical college experience.”
Safety regulations have been irritating at times, but they are necessary.
“I understand why there were pandemic safety protocols; the university wanted to keep us physically healthy, however it was at the cost of our mental health,” said Kelley.
Zoom classes became normal once the pandemic hit. Many students have had hybrid classes or have used Zoom to attend class virtually if they were quarantined.
“Zoom classes restricted human interaction. I didn’t get to meet many people or make new friends,” said Kelley. “It also made it difficult to network and make connections with my professors.”
Other colleges did not allow students to return to school in person, and all classes were held in a virtual format. Bonaventure students have done a good job of following the safety regulations which has kept the campus open. Freshmen are fortunate to have had a full year of in person classes.
Sports teams have had an unconventional year because of the pandemic also.
Henry Trost, a freshman strategic communication major and a member of the cross country and track team, said, “Unfortunately, we did not have a cross country season in the fall, but we are currently competing in outdoor track.”
Fall sports competitions were postponed until the spring for not only Bonaventure teams but teams from many other schools too.
The pandemic has also affected team dynamics for some sports.
“For most of the year, the pandemic caused our practices to be in smaller groups, which really limited team building and team chemistry,” said Trost.
Freshmen missed out on the excitement of watching basketball games from the student section. Fans were not allowed to attend games in the Reilly Center this year because of COVID-19 and the limitations that were put in place.
Freshmen are looking forward to eventually cheering on the basketball team from the Reilly Center.
“Basketball games are going to be very fun once we can watch them in person again,” said Trost.
Despite the pandemic, many Bonaventure freshmen have been able to make the best of their first year. Although it was an abnormal college start for the class of 2024, it was a memorable one.
purcellkr20@bonaventure.edu
