ONU/Summer #4

COVID-19 has finally started to settle down a bit with the recent release of the vaccine. Today, I would like to discuss my experience over the past year at ONU and how it was affected by COVID. I think that ONU did a great job at keeping us in person as much as possible. I understand that it was difficult as soon as it hit us last March when every college in the state was sending people home for the remainder of the semester, but other than that I don't think it could have been done better.

For a while, I worried that masks and social distancing were going to be the new normal for the rest of my time here at Ohio Northern University, and at first I hated it because I felt so constricted with what I could do here on campus, but I knew it was in everyone's best interest to wear the mask and follow the rest of the guidelines that were put into place. The online classes in the 2020 Spring semester affected me a lot because they made group projects much more difficult and I felt less motivated to get my individual work done. However, I was able to push through it and enjoy my summer.

Into the Fall 2020 semester, classes were odd. No one talked except for the professor and this made collaboration in the classroom difficult. At first, I struggled to concentrate in the classroom, and some days I didn't even want to go. From my experience this semester, I thought that the Dicke College of Business especially did a great job of giving us the best education they could give us considering everything that had happened. I am not sure how it was for other students around campus in their respective buildings, but I'm sure the faculty did everything they could as well.

Having an early winter break was awesome even though I spent the first two weeks in quarantine with my girlfriend after she tested positive. I was tested three times for COVID and tested negative every time. Besides that, my winter break was very relaxing. I wasn't sure how it would be coming back for the Spring 2021 semester, almost a year since COVID began, but it was still like the previous semesters. Almost every class was back in person, following the same guidelines set months before. I had a great semester and things started to loosen up towards the end of it in April/May. 

I am so thankful for everything Ohio Northern has done for us to ensure that we had a safe, but as fun as possible school year. It is great to see things going back to normal and I am looking forward to seeing my friends this fall!