A Commuter Graduating in Three Years During a Pandemic: A Reflection on My College Experience

As soon as I started college (full-time), I knew my experience wouldn’t be normal. 

I came to York College in the fall of 2019, when I was 18 and straight out of high school. I had been homeschooled most of my grade school years, and as part of my high school education, I  was able to take dual enrollment courses at Harrisburg Area Community College (HACC). As a  result, I transferred in 35 credits, making me a sophomore in standing. 

I also was a commuter, and that was a completely different experience as well. Getting my parking pass, finding places to park that weren’t completely filled by my class times, and packing my kitchen with me were all new experiences.  

In addition to being a sophomore during my first year, and a commuter, I only had one and a half real semesters on campus before we got shut down and moved online. And that wasn’t a new experience for me; my entire high school career had been online.  

But it did raise questions for me: what am I missing? Am I losing time? Should I live on campus? 

Of course, there would always be those what-ifs. Now that I’m on campus, fully in-person for  my senior year, I find myself consistently wondering what if the pandemic hadn’t happened, and  I hadn’t lost a year of in-person instruction, and subsequently, that time to make friends. What if I hadn’t been afraid to try new things and had gotten completely involved before my junior year.  What if I hadn’t transferred in 35 credits and been a completely normal student who was a  freshman instead of a sophomore. What if I had lived on campus and had the experience of living in the dorms with a group of people. What-if I had declared my major my first semester and had just taken the leap to do it.  

These what-ifs will always be there for me. And I’ll probably always wonder what would’ve happened, had my college experience been flipped on its head and turned completely upside down.  

But I do know that this pandemic affected many people, not just college students, and that everyone had this shared experience of activities being cut short and time being lost. I know that  I needed time to adjust to York, and that my first year here was really a learning opportunity—I  wasn’t in the right headspace to join any clubs or extracurriculars. I know that living on campus wouldn’t have been the best decision for me—I was able to work my way through my education,  reducing my student loans, and adopt several pets that have become my absolute best (animal)  friends. (Plus, I need my own space!:) I chose a small, tight-knit major (Professional Writing)  and have never regretted it, and I know that I needed my first semester to decide if the major was the right fit for me. 

And most of all, had I come in as a sophomore, I probably wouldn’t have met some of my closest friends. Even though they’re older than me, we’re in the same year, and we’ll graduate together. And I’ve never regretted that.  

So yes, there will always be those what-ifs. But I know that my college experience is the only one that was right for me. Maybe it was all supposed to happen, maybe it wasn’t. But either way, my college experience is unique.  

Normal is overrated anyway.