As I pull into the City College parking lot on a Monday morning, I have an easy time finding a spot. There are a total of five cars in the parking lot. It’s just me and the tumbleweeds as I walk toward the campus. 

Since the campus opened back up this fall, not much looks different from when it was closed in March 2020. As I continue through the almost ghost town, I see my first sign of life: the College Store.    

Emily Wildemann is a team member at the College Store, eagerly awaiting a customer to welcome in. Wildemann, an art major who has been a student here since fall 2020, has worked at the store for a year now. Because she started taking classes when City College was fully remote, this is her first semester taking in-person classes.

Before the shutdown in March 2020, Wildemann says she was excited to have a new environment and community. Though Wildemann feels she may have missed out on the social aspects of campus, she’s happy that the campus has begun to open. 

She says she is glad that the College Store has opened and students are now able to come and go as they please. Wildemann is doing the best she can to make up for lost time by getting to know the students and faculty who come into the store. 

Not far away, Abrianna McBride staffs the information desk at the Learning Resource Center, another facility that reopened this fall. McBride has been a City College student and has worked at the information desk at the LRC since fall 2019. 

McBride was indifferent about the shutdown when it first happened. She says she was excited to possibly get two to three weeks off from school and not have to drive and find parking. 

McBride quickly regretted this sentiment as she realized we were in it for the long haul. McBride is not a fan of online learning but is happy that some classes are coming back on campus and that she was able to return to her job, where everyone has been good about following safety protocols, she says. 

“The best part I will say about being on campus is just being able to have peace and quiet. Living at home with everyone — you know, little siblings — you just don’t really get any space to yourself,” McBride says.

On the second floor of the LRC, I find Becky Boyd, the adjunct librarian, at the City College research desk. Boyd has been working part-time for 20 years at City College. While the campus was closed, Boyd worked remotely from home, helping students with research on the college website. She describes working from home as a lot of waiting around and the “Ask a Librarian” feature on the library webpage as limiting.

Boyd is excited for students to be coming back on campus and to again be able to help them however she can. She says there hasn’t been much activity at the library yet and that the students coming in are mainly there to study. One of the main reasons people come is to have a safe and peaceful place to get work done, she adds. Boyd also says students can check out textbooks for class and use the printers again.

“It’s been slow here,” Boyd says. “We get people everyday — mainly people studying, people who didn’t have good study spaces, and still don’t. Haven’t really had a lot of good research questions yet.” 

Although Boyd hasn’t had many students that need research assistance, she is glad there is a space for students to come when they need to get out of their homes. If students have any research questions, Boyd is on the second floor ready to help. 

Walking around the courtyard, the next person I meet is Emma Meads, a first-time student at City College. This is Meads’ first semester, and she is taking English 300 and 108. Meads is excited that she was able to get a couple of in-person classes this semester because her last year in high school had left her disappointed. 

“I remember back in high school it was kind of weird,” Meads says. “There [were] probably three or four people in the class. [At City College] it’s much better. I really like seeing people and learning face-to-face. I’m happy to be here!” 

Meads also misses being able to have more personal relationships with her professors, such as being able to talk to them about lectures and other aspects of the class. 

Though Meads says she wishes there were more activities on campus, she understands it’s going to take time to reintegrate in-person events. Meads’ only other complaint is that the library closes too early for her liking.

As I’m getting ready to leave campus, I’m reminded of my first time there. Starting my journey as a student back in 2018, I still remember what the campus was like before the pandemic. City College had a vibrant community of faculty and students that, pre-COVID, was always ready to lend a helping hand. Faculty would help students find resources or connections available, and students were always willing to share tips and tricks they had on navigating their academic future.  

I see two students walking out of class, Marcuse Madhawk and Malik Martin. Both started at City College in fall 2020, and this is their first semester being on campus. 

Both Madhawk and Martin prefer in-person learning — where they can socialize with people, create study groups and get to know professors — to online learning.

Martin says the best thing about coming back to campus is the social interaction: “Making new study groups, new friends — just finally having new people that are around your age to talk to about similar subjects.”