New Kid In Town | Covid Journal
I started going to Cuyahoga Community College ( Tri-C) at the beginning of the Spring 2022 semester. I didn’t come to campus much until a few weeks into the semester, as most of my classes were less than 16 weeks. Despite this, I would occasionally spend time familiarizing myself with the Western and Eastern Campuses. Apart from the first few days, I was there, when parts of the campus were occupied with new students finding their way around and signing up for things, I noticed parts of the campuses felt empty as the weeks went on. Not many students have been on campus compared to pre-pandemic years. Instead, class sizes are smaller, halls are emptier, and none of my classes had more than a dozen students, numbers are mostly in the single digits
I enjoyed being on the campuses because, despite the small number of students, I didn’t have much trouble getting familiar with the two campuses as finding my way around proved easier when the hallways weren’t filled with students. I found the relative quiet calming and liked being able to have lots of room to sit and study or just look up things I needed to. Sometimes I would go to an empty spot on either campus and hang out there before going home, even after all my classes were complete, just to enjoy the atmosphere. I often used the time to think back to my last semester when I worried about finals and staying late, to make sure I left with transferrable credits before winter break was upon me. A few moments of silence were comforting
I didn’t fear catching COVID-19 since fewer students on campus meant no social distancing worries for me. Ialsofeltthat lower numbers of students in my classes meant teachers would have more time to focus on the few students, including me, compared to larger-sized classes. It felt more personal than during, other classes, I took at different schools. Ultimately, I am hoping to see more campus-goers soon because while I enjoy the quiet, things can get lonely sometimes. I am going to, however, miss the quiet of my first few weeks at Tri-C
Written by Jonathan Beard
