By, Riley Hickman, Vallo Vision News
(Montevallo, Ala.) – Krys Kromer was excited when University of the Cumberlands announced in the spring of 2020 their freshman year that students would have two weeks off: “It was two weeks off of school! Yay! Great!”
Two weeks quickly turned into three. Then into four. “Then it turned into a whole year and half pretty much in quarantine,” Kromer said.
Now a sophomore, Kromer has transferred to the University of Montevallo this year. “There are so many more options here and so many more things that I could do and involve myself in,” they said. Despite having more opportunities, Kromer is struggling to get involved. Kromer said that COVID has “definitely affected [their] ability to get involved on campus” and that they “very often get afraid to sometimes come on campus.”
COVID-19’s Impact on Kromer
COVID-19 impacted Kromer and their family. “A lot of my family was impacted after they had it … my Mom especially,” Kromer said. “The mental affect it had too was also pretty huge and pretty drastic.”
Kromer spent their time in quarantine “hanging out with [their] parents all day.” The lack of social interaction from people their age changed Kromer. “I don’t feel like a college student,” they said. “I feel like an old lady who should be knitting sweaters.”
Distanced Learning
Kromer says they “especially loved” the transition to distanced learning back in 2020. When this change happened, they were still at University of the Cumberlands. Despite the fast pace Kromer was expected to maintain at University of the Cumberlands, Kromer thought the online format “was perfect” for them.
The professors at University of the Cumberlands gave “one date to get it all done by” and maintained a hands-off approach. Kromer described it as: “Here’s everything you have to do. Go do it. You’re on your own.”
If given the chance, Kromer would opt for distanced learning.
Some students think UM should give students this opportunity again. For the 2020-2021 school year, students could sign up for an in-person class but participate entirely virtually. Kromer would like to see UM continue the option of distanced learning in the future. “Some people can’t do social events,” Kromer said. “Some people even have a hard time just leaving their house every day. After everything that’s happened, it would be really cool to give students that option.”
UM and COVID-19
Kromer is very happy with UM’s handling of COVID-19. They feels that the university is “doing a really good job” and is pleased that the students updated with information regularly.
Some of their professors forward COVID-19 information as it is received. These email updates about the mask policy and on-campus vaccination clinics struck Kromer “in a different kind of way.” They were surprised when their professors at UM would “reach out” offering to help and answer questions.
However, Kromer would change one thing about students returning to campus. “With this new variant coming out right before school started … I do think that we should have at least had a negative COVID test result,” Kromer said.
Unlike last year, UM did not require students to have a negative COVID-19 test before returning to campus this fall.
Kromer’s Outlook
Kromer is taking this semester to adjust and “just get to learn campus.” They are learning “how to get back to in-person learning.” Socializing is one of Kromer’s focuses. They said, “I need to relearn how to hang out with kids my age.”
The biggest lesson that attending college during COVID-19 has taught Kromer is to take life as it comes. “Don’t plan for the future when you don’t know what’s going to happen,” Krys said. “You never know what’s going to happen.”
Vallo Vision News 