Gavin Wieckowski, West Virginia University

Gavin Wieckowski, a freshman at West Virginia University, said his college experience has been a challenge so far.

“College life has been rough,” Wieckowski said. “I’m constantly checking my email to try not to miss anything important, and sometimes campus can feel like a ghost town. There’s a lot of pressure not to go outside if you don’t need to.”

The virus has also taken a toll on student social life and interaction, he said.

“COVID has had the most impact on social life here on campus,” Wieckowski said. “There aren’t many opportunities to interact with classmates after classes because of the pressures and risks of possibly contracting COVID.”

Wieckowski said club meetings have been reduced and that only a select few meet regularly. 

“Some of the clubs I was interested in no longer meet at all,” Wieckowski said. “Large clubs will still occasionally meet on Zoom, but it’s obvious that things have changed.”

The first semester is ending early and WVU students only have two more weeks of school following Thanksgiving break.

“Before midterms, cases spiked and WVU mandated a few weeks of all online learning,” he said. “After the break, we have one week of online classes and one week for finals. So the next time I’ll be back on campus is for the spring semester.”