UMD Freshmen are ready to start the school year

Over at the UMD campus incoming freshmen are flooding the building. As Monday marks the first day of classes

“It’s so different. There’s a lot of people, I’ve never met so many people at the same time so it’s been super different but super fun”, Says Helen Azajac who is from a rural Minnesota town and has had to spend a majority of her high school experience online.

And for student volunteers, helping those freshman make the transition, seeing the halls full again makes them excited for the year. “In all honesty I cried tears of joy”, says Emma Gilhousen, “I was so excited to see people. But it’s such a fulfilling feeling seeing the hallways crowded with people… I love it, I just absolutely love it.”

Even with the pandemic students say that there was nothing in their path that would stop them from the college experience. “I think no matter how it ended up I was going to go, but I feel super safe. Like just the protocols that they’ve been doing, like the masks and the vaccines so I feel like they handled it really well”, says Helen.

As for the college protocols, students at UMD don’t seem to mind them. Emma explains that the school is doing everything they can to have everyone be in person and safe. And then cheerfully adds, “if I have to wear a mask I am totally fine with [it and] seeing all these people on campus. I’m very excited about it.”

And as time flies, those new students are acknowledging how lucky they are to have a college experience that is not entirely behind a screen. Malia Hunt says, “I think we will really appreciate what we have, because last year was fully online and now we actually get to go in person, and it’s a lot nicer and a lot easier to learn when you are around other people.”