Marie Osuna – Staff Writer

Now that spring semester has started up on campus, students are back in classes‒or at least, Zooming into their classes. Since COVID-19 sent students home last March, Zoom classes have become the new normal, with a coveted ‘in-person’ or even ‘hybrid’ class being rare.
While upperclassmen stare at their computer screens, remembering what it was like to be in an in-person lecture, first-year students know nothing else but their pandemic college experience.
“When COVID-19 hit American and my high school senior year finished up completely online, I was crossing my fingers that by fall semester, for my [first-year] at Gustavus, things would be ‘back to normal.’ Obviously things didn’t turn out quite that way,” First-year Jessica Herbrand said.
For Herbrand and many other first-years, the question of whether to take a gap year was a prevelent one, especially when reality hit that the pandemic was not going to get better before they started college.
“No, I do not wish I would have taken a gap year. Sure, my experience at Gustavus this year has been unconventional to say the least, but if my experience during a global pandemic has been fun, exciting, educational, and impactful already, I can only imagine how much more Gustavus will continue to impress me when we move past this,” Herbrand said.
Herbrand has found that despite COVID precautions, she has been able to meet new people and make friends through joining various organizations.
“In classes and activities (for me particularly, the Gustavus Dance Company and Enviornmental Action Coalition) people have made me feel like a valued part of the team from day one. Yes, we are distanced. Yes, we are masked. But that doesn’t mean that connections aren’t being formed, especially at a school that values community as much as Gustavus,” Herbrand said
Despite the pandemic, Herbrand acknowledged that being away from home is already hard, so limiting visits to family makes things especially difficult. However, that has not changed how she feels about starting college when she did.
“In a time of uncertainty it’s important to have things to feel grounded to, whether that’s people, a place, an activity, or other. At Gustavus this year I have found all of these stabilizing aspects that I believe I probably wouldn’t have been so thankful for without COVID-19 reminding me of their significance,” Herbrand said.