School systems all over the United States are facing never before seen challenges this year. Schools are shutting down and moving to a system over learning that has not been practiced at such an extreme level. 

     Covid hasn’t been vacant in the University of New Hampshire.  For example former Foran student Rebecca Palermo states, “Towards the end of the semester students started leaving early because they were either exposed or had tested positive, even though the percentage was low there were still cases, especially towards the end”.

     According to the New York Times article, “Tracking the Coronavirus at U.S Colleges and Universities 321,000 cases have been found across 1,700 colleges.” 

     Students at University of New Hampshire are limited with some things, such as a large portion of classes were put all online. This change can create frustration among students as many kids going into college see it as their first step into adulthood. 

     The almost supervised lifestyle is very different from college life in the past, which may cause discomfort. Under normal circumstances these college students would be experiencing their first taste of freedom and living on their own. Due to Covid-19 many have been stripped of this experience.  Parent of Palermo states, Jeff Palermo states,   “I was concerned that she didn’t have as many in person classes and didn’t get the full freshman year of college experience.”

     Furthermore, college students have been limited to the interactions they can make with their teachers and peers. “The majority of my classes are online,” Rebecca Palermo states.    

     “College has been one of the best, most memorable times of my life, but it definitely would’ve been a different experience if it wasn’t for COVID-19,” says Palermo.  

     Many college students do not get to experience this time to the fullest. Students have had limitations on classes and academics, with restrictions on the amount of people in a dorm, social interactions have been limited as well, 

     This has brought forward new challenges for these students such as how many classes are required to change teaching styles.  

     ¨Teachers have changed the format of projects completely to fit the times,” says Palermo. Without these hands-on experiences, especially in college, many people are concerned about if they are properly and completely learning the skills they went to college for. Not only does this directly affect the individual student, but it will also hurt the workforce that may be hiring people  who do not completely understand the job. 

     Turning to the bright side she says, ¨Not everything had changed, I still had a great time and made really good friends.”     

     Although not everything has been taken from students but the long awaited freedom; the way students have been limited has never been seen before on this large scale.