What matters in life? Is it the things we own? The events we go to? The way others perceive us?

Or is it the community we surround ourselves with and the experiences we have? I think I’d argue in favor of the latter.

If being in college in the middle of a global pandemic has taught me anything, it’s that what matters most is the people in my life and the experiences I share with them because those are the things that will last. From what I’ve gathered, I think a lot of other college students would say the same thing.

So many college students have had to adapt to college life during a pandemic in different ways. I think that one way to strengthen our community as students here at Clemson is to hear about the lives of other students and how they’ve overcome challenges and adapted to the new normal this past year at Clemson University.

Student Interviews:

Riley Dowling (ADPi, SAC, CUGA, freshman)

Conner Gordon (Young Life, sophomore)

Alex Svacha (Track & Field, Tri Delta, sophomore)

Questions:

1) In your opinion, what has been the biggest challenge as a college student during this pandemic?

2) How have you overcome challenges and adapted to life this past academic year?

3) What’s something you learned about yourself or the world around you this year?

4) What‘s a sweet or special takeaway you have from this year? It can be a special memory, something you gained a new appreciation for or perspective on, etc.

It’s pretty clear that this past academic year has not been an easy one for college students. If we can learn anything from what Riley, Conner, and Alex had to say, it’s that we all had our own struggles and challenges we had to face as a result of the pandemic, and we all had to learn how to overcome them in our own ways. College students were faced with so much uncertainty and change this past year, but they learned a lot about themselves and discovered what matters most to them.