I've been attending college for 5 weeks now, going on 6. And for all of those weeks, I've been on-campus. Whether I've been attending class virtually or in-person is a different question. The majority of my classes are blended, but I have both purely online and in-person classes. Of course, most other activities have been moved online via Zoom or were canceled completely. This is clearly an unusual college experience, to say the least.

Being on-campus definitely has its advantages and disadvantages. I love being able to go to the library and study, or onto a different floor of my building to get my homework done. Eating meals with all my friends, having a study buddy, or someone to work on the lab with and work out buddies. My sorority definitely also plays a big part, getting to meet people in person has been so fun (even though all actual sorority events are virtual.) These are all things that I've found that I love about being on campus!

The disadvantages though are that I'm at a much higher risk of getting infected or exposed to COVID-19. This is purely because I'm living in a public place, with 35 other people on my floor and hundreds of others in the same building. We all share the same bathroom, along with many other 'touch points' including the lobbies and elevator buttons. Along with this, being a freshman at a university is hard. Much harder this year though. Finding ways to bond with other freshmen has been very difficult, to say the least. Making connections through zoom has been very hard, to say the least. Finding those genuine friendships has been difficult because of social distancing rules. It's hard to get to know someone when the only part of their face you can see is their eyes.

Going through recruitment or sorority rush was one of the most helpful ways for me to meet new people. And now being in a sorority, I've met so many amazing people. It's definitely helped during this difficult time.