- Some sophomores moved to campus for the first time and met the new president after an asynchronous year due to COVID-19. PHOTO CREDIT: Providence Journal
While some freshmen were able to attend classes on campus last year, many of the now sophomores are experiencing living, taking classes and socializing on campus for the first time.
Amanda Alegria, a sophomore journalism major, chose to live at home during her freshman year to save money since all of her classes were online. While she said it was hard to watch everyone living on campus last year, she was still able to meet friends virtually on Facebook and in classes.
“Even though I was at home, I made friends with some people who were also all virtual at URI,” Alegria said. “When we got here, we all met up and hung out, so I’ve made friends that way.”
Since she has gotten on campus, Alegria has begun connecting with other students by finding people in her classes to walk with. She said that other people living in Brookside Hall have similar classes as her, so they have been walking to class and doing homework together.
Alegria said that she “mentally feels like a freshman” at times because she doesn’t have the same experience that many others in her class had last year.
To make more connections and friends at URI, Alegria said that she plans to sign up for different clubs and organizations on campus to enhance her college experience.
“I never had an orientation or anything, so I’m really kind of on my own to figure out what to sign up for,” she said. “I went to RhodyFest and the other events that have been happening this past week to try and involve myself more.”
Another sophomore, Ben Coladarci, lived at home and attended the University of Connecticut as a computer science major virtually last year before transferring to URI. He said that living on a college campus has been a huge change in lifestyle for him.
“I’m currently living with three of my friends that I met last year, which means I’ve been able to meet new people through mutual friends,” he said.
Both Coladarci and Alegria said that Google Maps and Snapchat’s “Snap Map” have both been helpful tools to find the buildings their classes are in.
“Finally being in a classroom for the first time in almost two years is a great experience and finally gives my education a purpose,” Coladarci said.
Coladarci said that he loves the utilities on campus, such as the Anna Fascitelli gym, Memorial Union and the Quad. He is also looking forward to getting involved even more as the semester goes on and has been looking into different organizations.
Seamus McGrath, a sophomore Business Finance major, attended community college last year to save money before transferring to URI this fall. He’s currently living in a 10-person suite in Eddy Hall.
“At first, I was a little anxious coming to URI only because I’d never actually left my hometown before,” McGrath said. “I knew I had to stay on top of doing my own laundry, cleaning my room, etcetera.”
The biggest surprise for him so far since he got to URI has been that his workload hasn’t been too difficult. He thinks that coming off of a full year of community college has been an advantage to him handling his classes.
Socially, McGrath feels like he’s always busy while on campus.
“I almost never have nothing to do here while I’m on campus,” he said. “Whether it’s getting food, playing basketball or hanging out with my suitemates on the weekends, I always feel occupied.”