As a freshman, this is my first year in college, and obviously, my first-year experience is much different than first-year experiences in the past. Because of COVID-19, I lost half of my senior year in high school, which was frustrating as my most of peers and I missed out on prom, graduation, pep rallies, spirit weeks, a senior trip and more. Even though I was fortunate enough to have a senior parade and graduation, it was a much different experience than I originally anticipated. Losing months to make last-time memories with the people I have spent half of my life with was hard. However, I do not look at COVID-19 and what it has caused with anger; I am very fortunate for quarantine and how it has allowed me to grow and change as a person. Without COVID-19 and the hardships it caused, I would not be who I am today and for that I am appreciative. That said, it has been an adjustment for all and it has not been a very easy one.
I was the only one from my school to leave New England for college. My first-year experience has been much different from my peers who stayed in Massachusetts and the surrounding states due to different state rules. I find myself not in the right to complain about certain COVID-19 protocols and regulations here at NSU as they are not as extensive whatsoever in comparison to the ones up north. I am aware that they are in place to keep us safe, but some do not make any sense to me.
I cannot understand why we are not allowed to have people from other dorm buildings in our own dorm buildings since we are allowed to see them everywhere else on campus. If I am around my peers in the UC, I should be allowed to be around them in my dorm building as well. My experience with the housing COVID-19 rules are circumspect. More often than not, I feel as though NSU picks and chooses which housing rules to enforce. At the beginning of the first semester, the rule that stated only four people were allowed to be in the elevator was enforced, but now, it is completely overlooked. I do not think it is fair that some rules are enforced and some are not.
I may be biased since I am a student living on campus and have gotten in trouble for having people in a different building in my room, but to me, the rules do not make sense. Overall, I think that NSU has done a great job implementing regulations for our safety so that we can have the most normal college experience despite the pandemic that we are currently living in. I am truly grateful that I am able to go about my day as I please without as many restrictions, like my peers up north, but I hope that next semester some of the housing rules are more lenient, less difficult to follow and make more sense.
