Medway High School graduates have mixed feelings about the fall 2020 semester, fueled by concerns over lackluster classes and limited social life due to precautions surrounding COVID-19.

As the COVID-19 pandemic challenges colleges to reopen in a way that ensures students’ health, recent Medway graduates detailed how safety measures are manifesting on campus this fall. Sam McKeown, an incoming freshman at Colby College in Maine, said that “masks are required to be worn” on campus, all students will be tested for COVID-19, and classes will start in late August rather than early September.

McKeown explained that many colleges are starting classes early so students won’t return to campus after Thanksgiving break, protecting them from a potential COVID-19 resurgence in the winter. Students at UMass Amherst will not be receiving extended weekends during the fall semester to finish in-person classes by Thanksgiving. Sacha Orcel, a rising sophomore at the University of North Carolina, explained that students at her school will lose their nearly weeklong “fall break” in October to be home by Thanksgiving.

Another common precaution is reducing residence hall capacity to support social distancing. Dan Rice, a rising sophomore and prospective student at Bridgewater University, said the school is “turning all doubles into singles and all triples into doubles.” At Colby, McKeown said, “a new hotel in the downtown area will be used as extra dorm space” to make up for reduced on-campus housing.

Although many colleges are offering students the choice to return to campus, Medway graduates are concerned that online classes will detract from their education. Peter Jordan, a rising sophomore at UMass Amherst, spoke for many in his assertion that “you can’t take away from a video what you would personally experience in class.” Marissa Borkum, rising junior at UMass Lowell, shared this sentiment, explaining that the transition to online classes last spring made it “harder to pay attention” to school and punished “hands-on learners” like herself. 

Borkum, a major in medical laboratory science, also noted she “has to have hands-on training” to be allowed to work in hospitals. “I’m scared I won’t be prepared when I go on clinical rotation” if online classes continue, she said. Noah Garafolo, an incoming freshman at Franklin Pierce University, is also concerned about losing academic opportunities. He noted that if his school’s sports programs don’t run in the fall, he might have limited opportunities within his sports media major.

Alongside lackluster classes, Medway graduates are concerned the college social scene will shrink due to COVID-19 restrictions. Borkum said that UMass Lowell plans to cut down on students visiting other dorms and on-campus parties. These common measures, combined with online classes, will make it “much more difficult to interact with people” and connect with people according to McKeown. Carolyn Hernandez, an incoming freshman at MassBay Community College, was “really looking forward to clubs and social groups on campus,” but now worries they won’t happen due to social distancing. She explained that freshman year should be a time for students to adjust to an independent lifestyle as a social adult. She’s upset that COVID-19 has taken this away, asserting that “I’m robbed of the comfort of knowing what I’m doing” as well as the “college experience.”

Jordan, recognizing the stress that freshmen are facing, encouraged them to stick with their schools, saying that “the next semester is not what college really is about.” Although the fall will be different, he insisted that their college experience is not lost. “It will get better,” he said.