Digital Media
https://prezi.com/view/rmlGKlz3Mm29GI1rEp0x/

Synopsis

College is always a hard thing. The transition from high school to college is a difficult one for all students. I am a current freshman at Lehigh, I was in the high school graduating class, and everything was halted by the global pandemic. Covid 19 has impacted all of us very differently but added a bump in the road, making the Lehigh class of 2024’s transition even more difficult. While all freshmen have been allowed on campus in both the fall and the spring, the experience they had has been far from normal.

With the pandemic, many things had to be limited size-wise. In the fall of 2020, Lehigh welcomed freshmen to the campus. Things were very much far from normal. There were lots of covid tests taken, restrictions in place, and many positive cases. Lehigh took many precautionary measures to try and keep students healthy but the attempt overall seemed to flop because of parties that were still being hosted and other rule-breaking events.

When the Spring 2021 semester came around, things seemed much more under control. Lehigh brought more students to campus and still ended up successful. While there were a handful of cases early on, they quickly dropped and stayed low throughout the end of the semester. Throughout both the spring and fall, an all-online option was offered to those students who were not allowed back or simply did not want to return.

For the Fall 2021 semester, a big change is coming. All online is no longer an option. What does this mean? It means that all students must return to campus unless they are in Lehigh’s 30-mile commuter distance or they have a serious medical issue. This will mean a lot more kids coming to campus. All eyes will be on Lehigh to handle this capacity and keep cases low. Well Lehigh, along with other colleges, Like Muhlenberg, have quite the plan. They have decided to make the vaccine mandatory in order to come to campus. While I’ll get into my personal thoughts down the road, Lehigh is one of a few local colleges making it mandatory. While that may help control cases, is it ideal?

Throughout the presentation via Prezi, I look into my own mind to describe how I picked to commute to campus for Fall 2021 instead of staying on campus. Prezi allowed me to separate my own experience, from my fellow student’s, and from the closing overall thoughts. Throughout I explain where I think there is a slight issue in requiring the covid vaccine. If circumstances were normal, I would choose to live on campus, as I said before the transition is difficult enough, but to me, it does not feel ideal if I will not be getting the full experience. I also compare my own experience with another, in commuter radius distance, Lehigh student who is choosing to stay on campus. It is an overview of the campus situation for the fall and how two students chose to maneuver said choice.  o

Title Commuting Versus Living On Campus at Lehigh University

Author Alexis Temos

Date 05/13/21

Description An opinion based presentation on commuting versus living on campus at Lehigh University during a global pandemic and needing a vaccine to go on campus

Format Presentation

Source Prezi

Subject Commuting, college, covid 19, Lehigh University

Work Cited

Inman, Patricia S. “The Impact of College Residence on the Development of Critical Thinking Skills in College Freshmen.” www.proquest.com/docview/304402504?pq-origsite=gscholar&fromopenview=true. ProQuest, 1997.

Pascarella, Ernest. “Cognitive Impacts of Living on Campus versus Commuting to College.” ERIC, 30 Nov. 1991, eric.ed.gov/?id=ED357706.

Son, Changwon, et al. “Effects of COVID-19 on College Students’ Mental Health in the United States: Interview Survey Study.” Journal of Medical Internet Research, JMIR Publications, 3 Sept. 2020, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7473764/.

Tatu, Christina. “Lehigh University to Require Students Have COVID-19 Vaccine This Fall.” Mcall.com, The Morning Call, 21 Apr. 2021, www.mcall.com/news/local/bethlehem/mc-nws-bethlehem-lehigh-university-vaccine-requirement-20210421-clwy2l225ffyfmsqny6q5cptui-story.html.

Temos, Alexis V, and Emily M Wegrzyn. “Staying on Campus.” 13 May 2021.

Zhai, Yusen, and Xue Du. “Addressing Collegiate Mental Health amid COVID-19 Pandemic.” Psychiatry Research, Elsevier, 17 Apr. 2020, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165178120308398?casa_token=rMvvZ30LGNQAAAAA%3AVpBsdK9pLsTJluW_LVo7jhHEUxzu2Ng0qQ6gMMgCH2tkXBx-_GQcn5A199WEcIpum4SeGFJkVg.