This fall semester many, Lindenwood students can feel a difference from last year since going back to in-person classes.
After the COVID-19 pandemic started in March, 2020, Lindenwood University switched to all-online or hybrid classes to avoid the spread of the virus. It has been over a year since and starting this semester, more in-person classes were renewed. This is a big transition and a totally new experience for many students, especially for those whose first year in college was all-online.
Meeting new people, talking to professors in-person, participating and communicating in class were the most missed activities among students. Andrea Charles, a senior at Lindenwood, is glad to be back on campus before graduating this school year.
“I did not want to spend my last semester online,” Charles said. “I wanted to feel how it is to be on campus for the last time, meet new people, and participate in campus activities.”
Online classes brought new challenges and struggles to many students. These included poor communication with classmates, professors, and overall ability to understand the material and get quality work done. Jisu Yu, a second-semester freshman, shared her experience with online classes.
“I felt absence in talking with people and learning,” Yu said. “However, since it’s slowly getting back to normal, I feel more engaged in classes and it motivates me to learn and study more than I did last semester.”
The biggest challenge of online classes for sophomore Taylor Bibb was trying to communicate with professors online.
“I know they get a ton of emails so sometimes I would ask for help and never get a response,” Bibb said. “I am really excited because personally, learning online was difficult for me.”
Despite the many advantages like affordable prices, the ability to stay at home, and re-watch a class whenever needed, online learning was usually described as overwhelming and frustrating.

“Online classes can be overwhelming. It seems that the homework load was way bigger online,” Charles said. “Plus, we had no break last semester, and it was very hard mentally to keep up.”
As with every situation, there are pros and cons in transitioning from online to in-person classes. Many students had to start a completely new lifestyle, which required a change of schedule, habits, and overall routine.
“I think the worst thing about going back to normal is how much traffic there is on campus,” Bibb said, “and I can never find parking.”
For students like Charles, who prefers walking instead of driving from class to class, traffic tends to create some struggles for pedestrians.
“One of the challenges of being in-person is navigating to go to class. I usually have enough time to go from class to class, but it can sometimes be difficult as a pedestrian,” Charles said. “For example, when I go from the LARC to Roemer, I do not always feel safe because of cars. Sometimes, cars do not see me, or they do not care about letting me cross the road, which can be frustrating.”
Overall, Lindenwood students are enjoying their return to in-person classes, and finding different ways to have a smooth transition. For instance, Bibb found a way to adjust to a new lifestyle.
“I just had to get in a routine of waking up earlier and planning ahead,” Bibb said.
“It feels good to be back on campus and to be able to attend lectures in person,” Charles said. “I can now talk to classmates and interact with my professor.”