Athenian’s 2020 Female Alum: College Experiences During The Pandemic

Photo Credits: Shutterstock.com/Andrew Krasovitckii

By Rishi Reddy

Athenian’s class of 2020—where are they now? What are they up to? And what do they have to say about college? Many of the 2020 alumni are now attending excellent universities from all over the world! Making the jump from high school to college can be really challenging, especially considering the fact that they’re first-years attending their universities over Zoom. But we know the class of 2020 is one of the most resilient groups that ever graduated from Athenian. They really pushed through it all! Anyways, they must have a lot to say about the last few months regarding their school life, mental health, and everything in between. Here’s what they have to share. 

School Life

We all know that Athenian’s academic program is a rigorous one. But how does it stack up against college? 

Hinata Sasaki, now attending Waseda University (in Japan), explains: “At first, I thought the workload was much heavier at college than it was at Athenian, but once I got used to it, I was hardly stressed.” Sasaki also mentions that since she’s attending college over Zoom, she’s able to concentrate on her work with limited distractions. It helped her work efficiently on particularly busy days and ultimately paved her way to a strong finish for the first semester. College life can be especially stressful under current circumstances, so it’s great to hear she’s doing okay! 

Aditi Reddy, now a student at UCLA, shares positive experiences with college as well. She expresses: “Athenian definitely prepared me for college rigor, though it’s still a lot of work.” She adds that “it’s difficult to compare the college workload to highschool’s though, because unlike Athenian, UCLA has a quarter system.” She can only take 3-4 classes at a time; whereas at Athenian, her schedule consisted of 6-7 classes. 

Jess McKay, another student at UCLA, adds that “nobody holds you accountable for doing homework, so it’s important to stay on top of your work if you don’t want all the work to pile up.” That’s a great tip!

Victoria Koffi, who now goes to Howard University, expresses: “Doing college has been hard. I think this is mainly because of two reasons. One, the teachers are only accessible by email. I wish they were more approachable--like the teachers at Athenian. And two, I’m not as motivated because I’m not physically surrounded by other classmates.” Being surrounded by her peers used to be a constant motivating factor for Koffi during her time in high school. She had lots of friends to study with and spend her downtime with as well, however, she hasn’t been able to make that many friends at college over Zoom. Was it just as hard to make friends for the other alum?

Friends

Sasaki asserts: “It isn’t that hard to make friends, but it’s hard to get closer with them.” McKay shares a similar perspective: “Being a freshman in college over Zoom is pretty anticlimactic compared to the typical freshman experience because it is hard to meet new people and connect over Zoom. It’s difficult to bond with others when you can’t physically be in the lecture halls or live in the dorms or eat at the dining halls.” 

Maya O’Kelly, also attending UCLA, conversely expresses: “everyone I’ve met has been super nice. People love to help each other and that is so helpful given how many people are in each lecture.” 

Adding on to O’Kelly’s statements, Reddy expresses: “yes, it can be difficult to make new friends online. You only see people over Zoom, and you might get to talk to people every now and then in a breakout room.” Despite her initial comments, Reddy had no trouble making lots of new friends at school. How? Clubs.

Clubs

At the beginning of the year, Reddy enrolled herself in many different clubs. Currently, she is in a variety of pre-med clubs. Besides assisting her with her pre-med future, the clubs serve as a place for her to surround herself with a group of peers with similar interests. It’s essentially a spawning ground for forming friendships. Reddy is also in another club called Hugs in a Blanket. This club was supposed to be for the community to knit blankets and scarves for the hospitalized youth and elderly; however, they couldn’t do that due to the current risks of coronavirus. Instead, Reddy and her peers write letters to health care workers thanking them for their service during the pandemic. On top of that, they hold school wide events and fundraisers to serve the healthcare community. 

McKay shares: “I am currently part of UCLA’s backpacking club and climbing team. Neither of these clubs are allowed to hold in person events; however, the backpacking club, for instance, holds weekly seminars about topics ranging from outdoor ethics to backcountry cooking to navigation and orienteering. I’ve been able to attend some of these online seminars and socials to interact with people who have similar interests.” 

O’Kelly specifies that she joined the design team for UCLA’s paper, the Daily Bruin. She says: “it’s been nice to join different organizations. I think it’s the best way to meet people over Zoom because it’s a smaller group, and everyone has some sort of shared interest.” 

It’s evident that Athenian’s 2020 alumni are really giving it their all in college. Despite the college rigor, they all enrolled in a variety of classes and clubs that aren’t even required! So you might be wondering, with all of this on their plate, how is their mental health?

Mental Health

Koffi explains: “My mental health has not been that well because the main way for me to talk to my friends is through screens. I also have to spend countless hours each day on the computer. But I try to reward myself after I do work so that I can keep my life entertaining.”

On the contrary, McKay explains: “My mental health has actually improved throughout quarantine because I have learned to make time for myself and make sure I get outside. College over Zoom has made my schedule more flexible, and I have found more time to go on runs and hikes throughout the week so that I’m not spending 8+ hours on my computer doing schoolwork.” Reddy shares this viewpoint. She feels like she has more time for self care--both physically and mentally. Sasaki also thinks that her mental health has gradually improved as she got used to quarantine and “mid-corona life.”

In Conclusion...

It’s evident that these 5 alums have had varying experiences and opinions on college life. Nevertheless, one thread connected all of their statements: each and every one of them reported that quarantine enabled them to reflect on themselves and their surroundings more often. Quarantine has rocked our lives like never before, that’s for certain, but we ultimately get to decide if it was for better or worse. Now that we’ve taken a detailed look at the lives of these alum, I think it’s safe to say that Athenian, despite its rigorous academic program, has molded all five of these women to become the resilient, independent, and adaptable individuals they are today. Cheers to the class of 2020!