“It’s Complicated”: Students’ semester plans change after UMD transitions to complete online instruction

University of Maryland made an statement on Instagram announcing that all classes will be online for the rest of the semester (@univofmaryland/Instagram)

On November 13th, Maryland President Darryll J. Pines and Interim Director of the University Health Center Dr. Sacared Bodison sent out an email to the University of Maryland community that because of the recent spike in coronavirus cases in Maryland, all courses will transition to online instruction for the rest of the semester starting November 16th.

The email also encourages that for the students who are able to go home to make plans to return home for the rest of the semester. For students who elect to stay in the residential halls, they will be expected to follow more restrictions on campus, including limited access to facilities like the Stamp Student Union building and dining services. 

With this sudden announcement coming out a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving break, students have been scrambling to adjust their plans as soon as possible. They either had to decide whether or not students staying on campus would be worth it or had to work out a plan to go home. The quick turnaround has added more stress on top of finishing out the semester. 

Madelyn Willoughby, a freshman journalism major, originally wanted to go home for the Thanksgiving holiday and then return to campus to complete her first semester as a first-year student. But when she read the email, she decided that it would be best for her to go back to her home in Glen Rock, New Jersey, and finish up her semester there. When asked why she didn’t stay on campus, she said that it would be an easier decision to go home. 

“It’s not like I didn’t want to come back to campus, I just feel like it’s not worth it with the virus, the numbers, and the cases,” Willoughby shared. “Everything is so restricted now.”

Her classes were already online so she won’t have to adjust to online learning at home. But because she has gotten used to campus life, she will miss using resources like the Edward Saint Johns Learning Center as well as hanging out with friends. 

“One of the main things I used this semester was the gym. I went almost every day,” Willoughby said. “I also went to Group Fit (Group Fitness) classes.”

While talking about her learning space at home, she mentioned that she’ll bring home her standing desk since it was very helpful for her set up in her dorm. Despite missing campus, she’s excited to go home and definitely get caught up on some much-needed sleep.

“I have a really good relationship with my family so I’m excited to see them again,” Willoughby said with a smile. “I was saying to my mom that I’m just gonna go home and sleep for like, three days.”

Some students’ plans weren’t affected much by the unexpected email. Jillian Wimbush, a freshman in Letters and Sciences, already planned to go back home to Rockville, MD for Thanksgiving and planned to stay there for the rest of the semester. Her main concern about staying on campus was her safety.

“I’m happy to go home since I’m concerned about the rise in Covid cases,” Wimbush explained.

Even though she said that she doesn’t go out much, she will miss her independent life at UMD.

“I’ll miss my dorm since it is a good size and I like the space to myself,” said Wimbush. “I’ll also miss my friends that I hung out with.”

Thankfully, she doesn’t have much adjusting to do at home since all of her classes were already online and she doesn’t mind being at home because she doesn’t go out much anyway. 

International students on the other hand are in a more complicated situation that’s different from a domestic student. Xinyi Liu, the freshman astronomy and physics double major is originally from Xinjiang, China. She’s still trying to figure out what she’s going to for the rest of the semester. Before the announcement was made, Liu planned to spend the Thanksgiving break at her boyfriend’s house and then return back to UMD to finish up the semester. Now she plans to stay in the residence halls but doesn’t know what her plans will be when winter break comes. “Going back home is really expensive right now because of the regulated amount of flights that can go in and out of the United States,” Liu explained. “But if I don’t go back home, I need to figure out somewhere to live because I’m not sure the dorms will be open.”

She also explained that the Trump administration’s policy on not allowing international students who are only taking online courses into the United States added more stress to her situation. After graduating from high school in Minnesota and seeing that all her classes were online, she was concerned about whether or not she was going to be able to start her college education properly.

“I was terrified because I thought I was going to be forced to go back home,” Liu expressed. “The policy is mainly a plight to students who don’t have visas but I already have mine.” 

Another stress factor that she emphasized was that there’s almost no financial support for international students at UMD, which makes it harder on her financial situation.

“We can’t have work-study, no scholarships, no financial aid,” she expressed. “We can only work on campus 20 hours a week and the jobs on campus don’t pay very well. 

Although she’s not receiving much financial support, she says that she has received academic support from her professors. If she’s struggling or feeling frustrated, she can simply set up a Zoom call with them and talk it out. But if she does go back to China, she will have limited access to the resources she needs in order to succeed. 

“I wouldn’t have access to a lot of the resources I have here whether that be the library or the websites because China does a very strict job on determining which websites can be accessed and which ones cannot,” she explained. 

Liu also knows that if she goes back to China, it will be difficult to adjust due to the 13-hour difference. She’s heard about what the experience will be like from her friends who are also international students at different universities in China. She says that she doesn’t know if she’ll be able to handle going to bed at 7 a.m. just to wake up at 10 p.m. like how her friends are. 

She also said that if she stays on campus, it'll be expensive and she’ll be homesick. Even though she would love to go back home and visit, she emphasized that there are complications on whether or not she can come back to the United States, especially being from China. 

“If I go back home, of course, I’ll be able to see my family, my dog, my friends, and the food,” said Liu. “But there’s just such a big risk of not being able to come back. Whether it’s because of political issues or just Covid.” 

Overall, all three students’ situations show how strange their first semesters have been as freshmen for all of them. They all hope to return in the spring semester but they’re still concerned about how it will play out since the coronavirus affects them in different ways. Even though it’s been a stressful semester and they’re all burned out, one thing that all students can look forward to is some time off.