Article by Logan Bishop
Photos by Zachary Lutzky
Many have not experienced the campus life of William & Mary this year, with smiles hidden from friends six feet away and many professors and classmates having a blue-ish tint through the screen. In this brief article I hope to give those who haven't experienced the campus life this semester a general idea of what life is like on campus for those currently living here.
The Dining Experience
Dining on campus is perhaps one of the most interesting students are subject to - with certain tables completely blocked off and directional arrows that require one to take a couple laps to get everything they or she was looking for. If there ends up being more than ten people in line, the whole cafe appears crowded. One line that normally would stretch a few feet now can stretch across an entire side of the dining hall due to spacing requirements. Despite the restrictions, many students find ample time and space, both in the cafeteria and their stomachs, to dig through several plates of food when the opportunity arises.
“I was upset with some of the campus’s food offerings,” said Chip Dangerio ‘24. “Some on-campus restaurants and amenities other than Wawa and Chick-fil-a would be greatly appreciated, as the food offered at Commons and Marketplace can lose its luster very quickly. I suppose that’s a prevalent theme in most college campuses anyway.”
These are understandable feelings when there is a lack of dining options available at the current moment. Concerns of students not only focused on dining options, but with the compliance of the rules and regulations, as many fear for both their and others’ safety.
Codes and Compliance
As we all know, W&M’s administration implemented numerous guidelines and restrictions to keep the campus and community safe during this crisis. Wearing masks when outside of your dorm room (even in your housing building) and distancing yourself from others during activities are just a couple examples.
Many take to study lounges adorned with masks to participate in Zoom calls, and some enjoy the warm outdoors while conversing with classmates. In order to gauge how students feel about themselves and others complying with these regulations, I conducted an anonymous survey, asking how students perceived themselves and others following the new codes and atmosphere at William & Mary. Here's what they had to say:
-“The number of people wearing masks [is incredible]! I fully expected mask compliance to be maybe 50%, but I’d estimate it at 95% or so.”
-“The restrictions on how many people we’re allowed to hang out with [is challenging]. It’s hard trying to make people feel included when you’re only allowed to have 10 people in a lounge that could easily fit more -especially considering that you don’t have to be 6 feet apart from your roommate, meaning we should be able to comfortably fit more people while remaining distant.”
-“I never expected so many people from a multitude of niches and backgrounds to interact with synergy and camaraderie. People here are very social and vivacious, unlike what all the websites have told me prior to arriving at Williamsburg. I was enthused to meet such eclectic, talented people, which might explain why I was so quick to engage with such gifted minds in the first place.”
-“Surprisingly, I see a lot of students in lounges and outside for classes. I thought we'd be holed up in our dorm rooms more but I'm happy to see we're not.”
A trend appeared to exist as more than 30% of participants in this brief survey expressed their surprise with others following guidelines of wearing masks. This clues us in on how peers perceive their fellow classmates and how the threats of the faculty to kick anyone off campus not following guidelines have “inspired” individuals to follow guidelines to an extent that many students are happy with.
Overall, it seems students are adjusting to the Corona campus life fairly well, wearing masks and distancing themselves when in a large group environment a fair amount of the time. However, the strain on many for having to do classes online and being unable to interact closely with many others is apparent. Hopefully with the start of in-person classes, we can all keep our masks, and our hopes, up this semester.