By Alexa Meyler
Students who dealt with remote classes said they are thrilled to be back in the classroom - even if everyone is still masked.
Senior Maria Feren found that her experience on-campus during the pandemic was particularly scary.
“Stonehill is a place of togetherness and openness, and when the place that is a comfort zone for many becomes a place of hazard and fear of the unknown, the effects can be fearful,” Feren said.
Senior Jesse Plumb said it wasn’t always easy to take classes remotely at home.
Plumb said her family and dog were often too loud which made it difficult to focus on already challenging classes.
Junior Kathleen Kilban said she also found online classes to be difficult.
“Despite the fact that I was doing well in my classes, I was not comprehending the material to the best of my ability; therefore not giving me a stable understanding of concepts to build off of for classes following the ones taken on zoom,” Kilban said.
The pandemic also affected the mental health of some students.
“Although we were united in this feeling of uncertainty, it did not make it any easier to go through. Mental health battles in themselves are strenuous, and to add this feeling of confusion sent many into a spiral,” Feren said.
Feren found that she turned to the little things in life to keep happy, like a trip to the commons for lunch, or hanging out with friends in her dorm building.
Some students chose to live off-campus during the height of the pandemic.
Senior Gabriella Columbo lived in an off-campus apartment in Stoughton last year.
Columbo attended some in-person classes and meetings but still felt isolated and disconnected from campus.
Columbo noted that the “spark” of Stonehill was missing and was happy to hear the news that in-person classes would be returning and is looking forward to returning to some form of normalcy for her senior year.