Perspectives: What Feels Different This Semester
Lou Mohan ’25, Servo Student Worker
“There are a lot fewer student workers this semester. During the fall semester, I was one of ten or so student workers at Servo, and at the start of the spring semester, I was one of two. My coworker told me that, to date, there are three student employees, and they are currently training more, but only three people returned from last semester. Especially last semester, and into this semester as well, I’ve seen stations and food options get removed because people quit their jobs and there weren’t enough employees. I feel like it’s partially because people didn’t expect the workload to be so difficult, because working at Servo isn’t a job where you can just sit back and not worry. But, at the same time, pay plays a huge role, to be honest. It’s only $8 an hour. It is a lot of work for a job that pays so little. I do love the job, though, because the staff are incredible and it’s cool to play such an important role in helping the College function.”
Allie Acero ’23, German Studies and Political Science Double Major
“Everything this semester feels different to me because, after Omicron spiked, we are starting to hopefully leave the pandemic and go into a post-pandemic time. We are going back to classes and it is the first time in almost two years where Zoom isn’t as much of an option unless necessary. The transition has been really hard, because I think a lot of us feel like we are falling behind, because we are still getting used to going back into fully in-person classes.”
Greg Brown, Head Coach, Men’s and Women’s Swimming
“The biggest difference this semester is that everyone’s general concern is a lot greater. People are skeptical that things could still get worse in a situation that hasn’t been very fun. Two years ago, college kids were mostly worried about their school responsibilities and their social life, and it was a natural college experience. I think that last semester started with more hope, and this semester started with more concern. People thought that we were getting past the pandemic, and cases were going down, and it felt good. And then we started this semester with Omicron, masks and quarantine. I think that makes people skeptical and wonder when the next ‘shoe’ will drop, when we’ve already had so many shoes drop.”
Xingyi Puckett, Assistant Professor, Economics
“I would say that the fall semester was more relaxed than this semester. The spring semester started with COVID-19 being very intensely concerning, and students came back still needing to do a lot of testing and follow protocols, compared to the fall when things were easing up a lot more. I could see that students were more comfortable sitting around and chatting last semester. Going through the past two years of professors and students learning to use Zoom and switch to hybrid learning models, I think this semester strikes me as particularly different, because students are so resilient. I’m feeling hopeful, especially as it’s getting warmer and the COVID situation on campus is getting better. I think the spirit on campus is going to pick up a lot more.”
This article originally appeared on page 22 of the February 22, 2022 edition of The Gettysburgian’s magazine.
