How the Pandemic Changed Campus

Student

This extended period of isolation has drastically changed the social atmosphere surrounding the college campus. 

Campuses, especially in sunny California, are notorious for being social hotspots where individuals everywhere can, without much prompt, interact with strangers and peers and undoubtedly learn something and have a good time. 

Adding the layer of a pandemic very much raises peoples’ defenses and heightens uncertainty, which leads to a mutual distrust of strangers. No one knows how comfortable another person is with COVID guidelines, or who they have to interact with on a daily basis to keep safe. 

Some people are very relaxed about the entire quarantining process because they have the privilege to be, to others it terrifies them and they feel a strong need to stay isolated at the cost of their social life and mental health because they need to protect themselves and those around them. It turns the once peaceful college social dynamic into a war zone of sorts where everyone is unable to be at ease. It hasn’t ruined my college experience, but it has complicated it.