Traveling the world was easy, but becoming a freshman in college during a global pandemic was harder.
Dunn, hiking to Andrews Bald in the Great Smokey Mountains. Photo by Tessa Bradshaw.
Brenna Dunn, a 20-year-old out-of-state freshman at Western Carolina University is experiencing college in a different way than most normal freshmen have in years past. However, now she is living through a global pandemic.
Before attending WCU, Dunn took a gap year with Outward Bound, an outdoor learning program designed to teach students leadership skills. During the program, Dunn traveled to different states and countries while learning survival, technical and interpersonal skills such as leadership and communication. These skills helped her hike the Patagonia Mountains in Argentina and Chile, climb across two glaciers in Nahuel Huapi National Park in Argentina, canoe through the Everglades in Florida and backpack through Pisgah National Forest in North Carolina. Dunn’s Outward Bound trip was cut short on March 18 because COVID-19, just two days before Virginia, Dunn’s home state, was shut down.
“I was very distraught,” said Dunn. “It was very odd going from living the outdoor lifestyle and being in the dark about coronavirus and then the course was canceled.”
Her group was able to complete 59 out of the 72 days that were supposed to be on the trip.
At that time in the United States, there had been 4,500 people who had tested positive for the virus and 88 deaths in the United States according to CBS News. Now, seven months later, there have been more than 10 million positive cases of COVID-19 and around 250,000 deaths in the United States according to the CDC COVID-19 Data Tracker.
Dunn was not excited about coming to WCU for many reasons. One reason was that WCU was not her first choice and along with the stress of the COVID-19 pandemic, it caused her to dislike campus life altogether.
“It’s very lonely here on campus especially not knowing anyone,” said Dunn.
Dunn, hiking in the Smokey Mountains. Photo taken by Tessa Bradshaw.
Dunn is a finance major in the hopes of working in the outdoor industry or a finance job for an environmental non-profit organization. She is also an avid backpacker and loves to be out in the wilderness anytime she can. Most weekends she goes backpacking through the Smoky Mountains.
“I walk around campus alone and I feel so sad because I don’t know anyone, ” she said. “That’s all I really do.”
During the fall 2020 semester, there was a record-high enrollment of students accepted at WCU with 12,243 students. Even though the increase in students is good for the school, it may not be good for the health of students on campus.
Dunn said that most students that she sees walking around campus and in her dorm do not wear masks, and “no one is enforcing it.” One of the biggest things Dunn dislikes about campus is that she “can’t hang out with anyone because they [students] aren’t responsible with wearing masks.”
Dunn hiking Mount Tronador, Nahuel Huapi National Park in Argentina. Photo taken by Ellie Cahill.
Even though Dunn does not like campus life, she does like online classes.
“I don’t think a lot of people like being online,” said Dunn. “And with the pass-fail petitions going around campus, I bet a lot of students are not liking online classes.”
Students were not the only ones who had to change their routine. WCU faculty also had to adjust their way of teaching to help benefit their students.
“There are a few inherent flaws in the collegiate system,” said Hunter Willis, clerk of court for the Student Government Association. Willis said that he felt as if WCU has “antiquated ways of teaching” and had an “extraordinarily hard time switching to an online system.”
The challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and virtual learning can be seen in most college students if asked, because as Dunn said, “I don’t think a lot of them [students] can make friends” this semester due to the global pandemic.
Due to the “unwelcoming” atmosphere on campus, Dunn said she is transferring to Montana State University in the fall 2021 semester.
