As UT President Jay Hartzell said in a July school-wide email, “the residential college experience is a big part of what makes UT such a special place. As such, we continue to plan for teaching, learning and research in person.”

This is big news. For some, this news comes as a sigh of relief, the breakdown of a barrier preventing college students from living their best lives. For others, this news is frightening, as they are afraid to catch COVID-19 and spread it to loved ones by simply going to class.

Is this a good decision or not? How do we make sense of this news and the thousands of different perspectives floating around the Forty Acres? We sat down to unpack this multifaceted issue from a student’s point of view today.

Here's a snapshot of a few things we talked about…

Naturally, we’re all excited to see our friends again and physically attend class. Students have missed out on experiences we can only get in-person, such as attending sporting events, speaking up in a lecture hall to converse with our professors and classmates, and participating in social activities. It’s what makes college college.

However, going back in-person comes at a risk this year, as the delta variant of COVID-19 is ramping up. UT has announced some safety precautions (such as required testing for all before the first day of school), but will the administration really go the whole nine yards to make students feel comfortable?

This has been a rough couple of years to be a college student. We express our opinions about what we’ve been feeling and what some don’t understand about the college experience in the pandemic.

We even read some of your responses to our Instagram story poll and addressed your answers. Follow us there for the chance to be featured next time @UTPOV!

kaitlinberger