After last year’s unexpected separation between students, faculty and staff due to COVID-19, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University last week resumed in-person interaction.
Christelle Haygood, Rodneisha Lewis and Joshana Bien-Aime are three seniors at FAMU who said campus life has changed since the pandemic.
Haygood, the 115th Miss FAMU, is studying business administration. The Fort Lauderdale native believes that students on campus are more closed off and enjoy less verbal interaction with their peers.
“Around campus students are starting to be less sociable amongst each other,” Haygood said. “Students will be themselves away from the crowd to avoid interaction.”
She said that despite the push to wear masks around campus, students should still take the initiative to acknowledge each other to keep the “FAMULY” spirit alive.
“I feel as though the pandemic interfered with many of our interpersonal skills,” she said.
Bien-Aime is a graduating senior from West Palm Beach studying psychology. She said that the majority of the on-campus events are geared to underclassmen.
With freshman and sophomores experiencing campus for the time, they are more likely to participate in on-campus events, whereas the upperclassmen are more inclined to simply stay safe, she said.
“Being that we already know what it feels like to be on campus, the on-campus event does not amuse us anymore, especially with the virus spreading,” Bien-Aime said. “Underclassmen are excited about the experience, so they don’t mind being around each other to gain that campus life experience.”
Lewis, a senior from Miami studying criminal justice, says that the underclassmen are taking COVID-19 seriously because of what they have seen the virus do to the world thus far.
“They don’t want to take their on-campus life experience for granted because this virus is unpredictable,” she said.
As the semester continues, FAMU will continue to monitor the amount of COVID-19 cases across campus as the university continues to try to “protect the FAMULY.”