HVCC Students Come Together During “Welcome Back Week”
By Bilal Shibata, Staff Contributor
The first week of Fall 2021 classes brought much excitement as the lack of face-to-face interaction came to a halt. With many events to attend, this week is traditionally the time for students to meet other students and get their footing in the campus culture.
The college is committed to bringing a sense of belonging and inclusivity for students. However, with the continued spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, staff are making sure student health and safety are the main priorities during the events.
The college had organized availability of free food, college merchandise and live music. It all tied together and became a great attempt at creating a semblance of some normalcy.
HVCC followed Centre of Disease Control (CDC) guidelines, including mandated masks indoors regardless of vaccination status, surface sanitization and hand sanitizing stations at each event.
The Hudsonian also had the chance to interview many students who are back on campus with high hopes of finally enjoying college life.
“The live music was pretty cool and overall had an amazing environment,” said Kiley, a criminal justice major.
Making friends on a commuter campus like Hudson Valley Community College may be challenging at times. This came to mind as it seemed like there was a lack of activities targeted at students’ engagement with each other. Since it was many of their first weeks on campus, maybe they expected ice-breakers and such.
This sentiment was conveyed by Olivia, a business administration major, when she said, “I like that I have a fresh start from high school and would like to find some clubs of my liking to join, but no one really talks to each other here.”
However, it is worth highlighting that our campus is the academic home of students from many different backgrounds, ethnicities and geographical origins. Due to this, many students cherish the ability to take Welcome Week to learn more about people they may not normally have a chance to network with.
“I like meeting new people from all sorts of diverse backgrounds as it gives me a lot of exposure and gives me the opportunity to connect with people around the globe,” said Bahzif, another criminal justice major.
Most of the activities of welcome week were spearheaded by Alfredo Balarin, Director of Student Activities.
“We made sure that we try our best to provide the students with activities while strictly following the COVID CDC guidelines,” said Balarin.
“Since students had been studying remote for some time it could be difficult for some students to socially connect … to overcome that problem the student activities office has a lot planned for the upcoming future” Mr. Balarin continued.
It goes without saying that despite there not being much encouragement for students to interact with each other during the event, the truth remains that the college tried to create normalcy by organizing a decent welcome week during this once-a-century pandemic.