Expectations vs. reality

Beginning college amidst a pandemic

Sabrina Lo

The college application and decision process is a huge part of senior year for many high school students. Writing essays, completing applications, and talking with friends about decisions can be both stressful and thrilling. However, with COVID-19 forcing students to participate in distance learning, the experiences are quite different now.

Kaitlyn Parohinog is a former Carlmont student and current college freshman. Due to her interest in sports broadcasting and theatre, she decided to attend Arizona State University (ASU).

Going into her senior year of high school in August of 2019, Parohinog envisioned college preparations to occur how they do any other year.

“I was just expecting to write some essays and then, in the spring, get together with my friends to show each other our acceptance and rejection letters,” Parohinog said.

Never would she have thought that everyone’s lives would be turned upside down. As COVID-19 swept through the world, safety guidelines such as lockdowns and distance learning were implemented.

Although traditional ways of researching the college application process are no longer possible, students found that college-related materials are now more easily accessible online.

“I think that there are possibly more

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resources available to seniors due to everyone having to stay home and miss college tours. I’ve seen universities post more content online that describes the college experience. Regarding academic information, everything else generally seems the same,” Parohinog said.

With more content posted online, researching the best college becomes more manageable, although it does come at a cost.

For instance, seeing a college’s environment first-hand can considerably nudge a student’s college decision one way or another. Unfortunately, college tours have come to a halt to limit social interaction and prevent the spread of COVID-19.

“For me, seeing a college up close was a big factor. I think it’s a big loss for a lot of seniors this year that they can’t go see their colleges because that’s a key aspect in deciding on which one to go to. You may like what they provide, but it might not be convenient for you. For example, if you have to walk all the way across campus from class to class, or just the hassle of going around campus, and the energy that it gives off (might not be right). You’re not there to feel what it’s like to actually be there,” Parohinog said.

As an alternative, some colleges are offering virtual tours. However, they are limited to showing some aspects of the environment.

“I think that virtual college tours are good in general terms to show what the campus looks like and such, but you’re probably not going to see anything specific that you may have wanted to look into, including nearby stores and other places outside the campus,” Parohinog said.

As the saying goes, “looks can be deceiving.” This is certainly a possibility with virtual college tours. The campuses shown in virtual tours may not always truly appear as they do in person, but it is the safest choice and best alternative to in-person college tours nowadays.

In school, college applications are a key topic of discussion with peers during the twelfth grade. Sadly, the joys of empathizing with friends in person about desired acceptances are no longer possible.

“At first, I was expecting to hang out with my friends in person and have all of us show each other our acceptance letters, so I felt a little left out and weird not hearing back from my friends because of distance learning,” Parohinog said.

As her high school senior year came to a close, Parohinog prepped to begin her journey through college. In an average year, moving into a college dorm is a very hectic experience. Many people shuffle up and down the halls, lugging around heavy boxes left and right. But Parohinog was met with uncertainty about whether or not ASU would allow her to move into the dorms. With COVID-19 fluctuating over time, her university’s decision was prone to change.

“I didn’t know if I was going to move in even two weeks before school started because they announced that they may cancel housing up to about a week before school started. Everything was just on the fence,” Parohinog said.

Fortunately, Parohinog was able to

move into her college dorm, allowing her to have a somewhat typical college experience, but in a safe manner.

“Moving in was actually pretty interesting because that was the only time where non-students could be in the dorm. I feel like it was definitely different because people had assigned moving days, and I could tell the school was spacing it out more throughout the day to make sure not too many people were entering and exiting,” Parohinog said.

Although opening dorms for students does introduce a risk of spreading the virus, colleges are ensuring across the board that the process is done as safely as possible.

Parohinog started off her freshman year of college with distance learning, taking her classes over Zoom from her dorm room. But the lack of a college classroom atmosphere caused her to feel that her first few weeks of college were just like high school. It was not until she decided to try socially distanced in-person classes that she felt a change in her educational environment.

“It didn’t hit me that I was in college when I first started the school year because everything was still online. But I decided to go to a couple of my classes just to see what it was like, so that’s when it really hit me. For example, my professor was right there, giving us a lecture in person. Because of that, I feel like I was able to retain more information and take it more seriously,” Parohinog said.

Though she is physically living at her college and is attending classes in-person, her experiences are not at all what the “college experience” would typically entail.

“What I’ve heard from other people is that many go out with their friends and meet a lot of new people, like at football games, sporting events, and just different activities that the university provides. Obviously, that didn’t happen this year, so I was kind of bummed out at the limited amount of activities that I am able to do during my freshman year. It’s pretty different than what I expected because I thought I’d be able to get together with a whole group of friends and hang out,” Parohinog said.

To make up for the lack of social interactions and events for students, the colleges themselves are making an effort to provide safe social activities on campus.

“ASU still tries to have activities. During Halloween, they had some activities outside, like mini-golf and painting pumpkins; just activities where you can interact with other people,” Parohinog said.

College applications, decisions, and the beginning of college are much different when done amidst a pandemic, but do not let that discourage you. There are plenty of easily accessible online resources available and numerous alternatives to replace things that would have been done in person. All that is left to do is just to keep a positive attitude and remain optimistic for the future.

“College applications are definitely stressful, especially during a pandemic. I just wish you all luck, and just know that everything will be okay, and college will go back to normal sometime soon,” Parohinog said.