The First-Year Engineering Experience During COVID-19

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A small group of friends and me at the VOSS Model during the first week of classes


The beginning of my freshman year of college blended a little bit with the end of my senior year of high school. At the end of my senior year, I went online and while doing online school I got put in a Snapchat group off of the Purdue 2024 Facebook page. It was through this chat that I met my roommate, Ananya, and my current group of friends; the 14 of us talked through video chats and text from April until we arrived on campus in August. Once we got on campus, we worked to ensure that although we couldn’t have the normal freshman experience, we could still have a good fall semester. 


Academically, I have two classes on campus -- I have concert band every Tuesday and Thursday, and attend my collaborative leadership class on Tuesdays, too. My first year engineering class is over Zoom on Wednesdays and Fridays and although my engineering team and I cannot meet in person during the class, we usually like to meet up in person to do our work at on-campus on Thursdays. As for the rest of my classes, I have given myself a mission to find the best places to study on campus to complete my online lectures and other homework. My favorite spots that I have found are Rawl’s Library, the Union Hotel Lobby, and Armstrong Hall. Although online school isn’t the preferred format for me personally, I have found that doing my work with friends out of my dorm room makes it feel almost normal. 


Socially, my friends and I have had to get creative, because of maximum occupancy regulations we have had to find places that will fit the 16 of us. Most of the time we disturb the peace of the Earhart lobby playing Among Us, or the Meredith South kitchen while making garlic bread. Our favorite place on campus is the Sun sculpture, where we listen to music and talk (pictured above). Football games look a little different this year too, but it hasn’t stopped us from spending our Saturdays yelling at the TV together.  Although this hasn’t been the freshman year that I always pictured it to be, it is a freshman year I wouldn’t want to change! 


Jenn Short (Mechanical Engineering ‘24)
Recruitment Project Committee

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