College from a distance: going “off to school” in a COVID world

Just over one year ago, students across the nation transitioned from on-campus classes to completely virtual classes from their homes as many school campuses closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

For the Spring 2021 semester, Fresno State is only open to for a limited number of in-person classes. This means that many students have yet to step foot on campus.

According to the Office of Institutional Effectiveness at Fresno State, 25.5% of Fall 2020 students were either new freshmen or undergraduate transfer students. Around a quarter of students have been unable to take an in-person class.

Evenee Gonzalez-Burgos, a freshman at Fresno State, currently lives in Los Angeles. After graduating high school in 2020, she planned to move to Fresno, however, COVID prevented that. Attending remote classes has impacted her first year as a Bulldog.

“The uncertainty of the future has given me anxiety, which has affected me and my school work. I feel that if I was in an environment where I had people around me that were doing the same thing, I would have an easier time and not feel as anxious,” said Gonzalez-Burgos.

Students are adapting to find new ways to engage with each other.

“Every class I have been in, for the most part, has had a group chat of some kind to talk and interact with classmates outside of class,” said Huntington Beach transfer student Tyler Van Dyke. “I can’t wait to be able to experience college life and get to walk on the campus and see everything that [Fresno State] has to offer.”

Fresno State plans to increase the number of students in face-to-face classes for the Fall 2021 semester.