The College Experience Students are Being Robbed From

Due to the rapid spread of COVID-19, many colleges have chosen to keep their students online, rather than having in-person classes. While this is a good option to control the spread of the virus, these students have already missed out on so many opportunities and will continue to do so with online classes. The current high school seniors have already missed out on many school activities such as their last dances, sports seasons, prom, and possibly graduation. 

While many schools remain online for the rest of the year, some opted to have few students on-campus this spring. These schools have strict restrictions that must be followed in order for their students to stay on campus. Harvard, for example, did not open for the fall semester but is allowing only up to 40% of its students to stay on campus. The University enforces the on-campus students to be COVID-tested every 3-days. While these conditions may seem extreme, if this is what is necessary to keep students at school, they will be more than willing to follow these guidelines

Even with this option, many students decided to stay home for the year. Vince Oliando, a freshman at the University of Maryland, opted to stay home this year to save money. His mother agreed with his decision to stay home to “save money this semester, especially if he wasn’t going to enjoy it. He wouldn’t truly have the college experience.”

The incoming college students need to be given the opportunity to experience the reality of college life. These students have missed out on the end of their junior year and all of their senior year of high school. “Zoom University” is not the way these students deserve to learn. They need the experience of college to prepare them for the real world.