Photo Credit | Danielle Cruz
By Marisa Morrison
With the conclusion of 2020 and the revisiting of March and April during a pandemic scene, and from a vantage point overlooking all of the hoops that had to be jumped in Spring semester 2020, I believe it is safe to say that we have evolved, developed, grew, and advanced towards succession.
In the event that many students, professors, and staff members of York may soon be able to return to the campus given the outcome of the vaccination for COVID-19, we as a community have learned much from where we found ourselves before. Although we were bruised and knocked down from the abrupt change in society as we know it today, eager to continue on we got up, dusted ourselves off and set out to ride the waves of such an unpredictable year.
Spring 2020 had created such a bottle of problems, emotions, and situations all within one community. Many would have never imagined we would get to where we are now. When the campus was forced out of face-to-face learning and into a virtual online atmosphere, many were rightfully caught off guard, unsure of the outcome that would result from a sudden shift in learning and execution of assignments. Some professors during this semester that I had were able to address the situation right away, while some others may have needed more time to adjust their course outlines to fit a more virtual setting.
After having endured such surprise in Spring 2020, Spring 2021 brought a new promise of experience and adjustment. By now, many professors and staff members have become creative in how they diversify their efforts in online communication. Applications outside of Blackboard such as Zoom, Discord, and Slack became new fresh ways for professors and students to stay connected while away from campus. These methods also enhanced meaningful study group discussions, instead of being relegated to email or Blackboard discussion boards, students could use the convenience of their phones when on the go to gain more insight on assignments, due dates, and course content.
Although many group and club events were halted under the admonition to social distance and remain in quarantine last spring, students were not deterred in continuing their operations online, and have branched out to do more outside of campus by Spring 2021. Many virtual Zoom group events were hosted by various departments and clubs within the community in place of real-life events that normally would have been held at the campus. These events helped keep the community together under such devastating times in insightful interactions, whether it was yoga meets, health and wellness seminars, or information seminars that helped aid others in knowledge for filing taxes or about stimulus checks.
Many other improvements were taking place on the campus as well. Although we had left the campus in Spring 2020 with the knowledge of many renovation projects underway at the time, by Spring 2021 we have many good news of renovation reaching its end. New improvements as well as renovations had been recorded and shown to students and professors via email. Escalators, elevators, academic lecture halls, chemistry and biology labs, the Faculty Dining Room, and the Performing Arts Center were just a few of the mentioned projects the college campus was undergoing in February 2020.
As of Spring 2021, many of the reported projects have almost, if not already, reached their completion, giving something students can look forward to when we are clear to arrive back to campus.
