Students Return to LCCC

Eleanora Hiotis | Writer

Empty seats between classes on the bridge between the ARC and TC building.

Since COVID-19, LCCC students have not had a normal school year without Zoom meetings, hybrid classes, or even masks. This year students have eagerly returned to campus as mask mandates lifted and fully face-to-face options have become available.

Looking back, students recalled the Schnecksville campus feeling like a ghost town, empty for the 2021 fall semester. Laura Walthier said during her first semester that the threat of COVID-19 still caused feelings of nervousness and anxiety for some as “cases were still high.”

This year, returning students came to campus and had the option of fully face-to-face instruction for classes. This means having a full classroom, and a hard time finding parking. Though a good sign for the college, this can be an overwhelming experience for students who have become accustomed to being more isolated.

“COVID-19 isn’t over even though some students may think so,” Walthier said.

Some students may still have concerns about COVID-19 with the visible increase of students physically on campus.

Student Jade Perkins said, “Since numbers are down it’s less nerve-wracking this year.”

The empty campus was shocking to a returning student like Perkins.

“I noticed the emptiness right away, especially in the cafeteria,” she said.

She explained how the food line in the fall of 2020 was always so long and in 2021 it was evidently shorter. She also claimed that not seeing people hang out in the cafe or hallways was also a stark contrast in 2021 than 2020.

After all that students have been put through with Zoom and hybrid courses, many agree that it is refreshing to be back on campus and to see other students in classes and in the halls and to have a sense of normalcy again.