On the first week of classes, students say COVID-19 has redefined the ‘college experience’

BOSTON — The first week of classes at college is a full of excitement and possibility.

But for Derquan Boyd and thousands of others, the “college experience” has been re-defined by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“There’s a lot more fear for safety, people going into college everyday feeling like there lives were at risk," said Boyd.

The novel coronavirus has changed the way we shop, the way we legislate and the way we educate young people. With nearly 200,000 people dead in the U.S. from COVID-19, the virus has certainly changed the nation.

Nineteen years ago, thousands of college students started this new chapter in their lives on 9/11, another period of change for the nation.

Boston 25 news Reporter Crystal Haynes spoke with her classmate at Emerson college. Both of them had their first day of classes on the fateful day the City of New York suffered its most devastating act of terrorism.

“I think it’s still a moment of uncertainty for kids going into college, but I think there’s a different level of extremity," said Nicole Olusanya. “You have 200,000 people who have died from COVID-19, you have millions of people unemployed and that presents a spectrum of experiences for young people who are in college."

This is also a shared time of trauma.

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