While starting college has always been a big transition, the prelude of two years of isolation has posed new challenges for current college freshmen. Dubbed the “guinea pig” generation, they’re learning to navigate the waters of college bearing the impacts of the pandemic’s disruption to their high school experience.
Many students have reported feeling academically unprepared for college-level courses. Distance learning made it difficult for students and teachers to engage, putting the concept of learning rather squarely back in the memorize-it-and-take-an-exam box. Students are finding that they didn’t learn (or retain) enough content from their period of online learning to succeed in college-level courses — most of which require a certain level of background knowledge.
As for personal development, after the isolation of the pandemic, this year’s freshmen have found it intimidating to re-engage their social skills. Some have said it hasn’t felt worth the effort to rebuild their identities while also adjusting to college life. They feel it’s easier to revert back to their pandemic-selves and focus on work rather than taking the time to connect face-to-face with other students.
On the flip side of that coin, some students feel the need to over-do social interactions, making up for a time when in-person gatherings were not an option. Over-doing the social scene is not unheard of among college freshmen, but this year’s crop are reporting that it comes from a place of anxiety rather than from a newfound sense of freedom. This group of students is having to find ways to reassure themselves enough to be able to focus on academics.
Athletes have been affected as well. Collegiate level sports can be incredibly demanding even in a typical college year. In many cases, this year’s freshmen missed out on months of training, practices, and games thanks to COVID, and are feeling the pressure to catch up.
One of the biggest effects of the pandemic on students is losing the ability to separate school work from the rest of their life. Finding balance in college, just as in working adult life, is a crucial component of wellness. Students and campuses are actively working to fight the work-around-the-clock, always-available attitude that technology use during the pandemic enabled.
For their part, colleges are looking to meet students where they are. One school in Georgia is letting freshmen retake a course they failed or withdrew from. Other schools are allowing students to take a required course before their fall semester to lighten their load and give them more time to focus on other courses. Expanded orientation sessions, one-on-one mentoring and peer guidance are the strategy at some colleges, along with increased encouragement in club participation, taking on jobs, making friends with classmates, and engaging with professors.