Hopes for the next semester

Samantha Weber, Managing Editor

The thing I am most looking forward to next year is simply having more of the normal college experience. After my first year of college being controlled by COVID-19 and its restrictions, I am excited for next year and what it will look like. I am sure we will still have to wear masks and social distance in some cases, but I am hoping that those restrictions will become looser as the year goes on. I want to be able to have guests on campus again and be able to show my friends from back home what my school looks like and visit Presque Isle of course.

I am hoping that my class will be able to experience more of the community feeling here on campus. I can definitely still feel it, but there are certainly parts that we missed out on in our freshman year such as Hurst Day. I just hope that we can experience more of Mercyhurst’s traditions as the year goes on.I personally do not mind the hybrid-style classes, so I think it would be awesome if we had the choice to go in person or stay online some days. There are definitely classes that I would want to be in person every time, but it would be nice to have the choice especially if you do not feel it would be beneficial to you. I know this is probably very unreasonable, but it would be a nice aspect of this year to carry over to the future. I think it would also be nice to continue having the lectures recorded and being able to look back on them while doing homework or studying. I have found this to be really useful if I do not remember something that was mentioned in class or if my notes for one topic were not great.

I also really want to attend sporting events without worrying about personally knowing someone on the team so they can put my name down on a list as one of the few guests each player can invite. I love sports and was always at different teams’ games from my high school, and those are some of my favorite high school memories. I was hoping to continue going to games with my new friends here, but unfortunately, it is harder to get into games than I would like.Another thing I am looking forward to next year is living in an apartment. I love how the upperclassmen housing options have a kitchen in them, so we can make food easily without having to leave the apartment. I personally love to cook and bake, and I have not been able to continue experimenting with new recipes since coming to school because the freshman halls do not have a kitchen in the rooms.Overall, I want the world to return to some form of normalcy so that Hurst can truly feel like home.