College students grapple with uncertainty about their future in the middle of a pandemic
HOST INTRO: With the coronavirus pandemic set to cause another recession that’s potentially worse than 2008, the people who are poised to inherit this uncertain economy are college students and recent college graduates. As many young people are currently trying to finish the year in the midst of disrupted school schedules and lost jobs, they want others to know that they are also struggling. Younger adults who have just started entering the workforce are seeing their jobs — and possibly their futures — disappear. For more on this story, here is Diana Shishkina.
AMBI1: Soft slamming of books, flipping of pages.
AMBI2: Natural bedroom room tone
TRACK: Amanda Elliot, a senior at Hunter College has been studying for months for the MCAT, or Medical College Admissions Test. While loss of graduation and job security is one aspect of students’ worries, there is another major one that some seniors are facing: applying for postsecondary education, including grad school, law school, and medical school. Elliot spoke to me about her struggles as a college senior reacting to the coronavirus and also attempting to apply to medical school this summer.
AMANDA: For me, dealing with the repercussions of the coronavirus is really stressful and anxiety-inducing because once CUNY had closed, everything suddenly became uncertain. You know, how would we finish our assignments, complete our final papers, projects, presentations, how do we graduate on time.
TRACK: As she’s dealing with trying to pass her final college classes, Elliot has also tried her best to fulfill her role as a campus leader and mentor and check in on the students she was working with before the pandemic. Trying to balance all of her commitments from home has sometimes proved to be a challenge.
AMANDA: You know, young people really are doing a lot, it’s not just about maintaining themselves, but you’re also maintaining a network — family networks, social networks, school networks, work networks. And people really underestimate the importance of young people in doing that.
TRACK: Elliot’s biggest worry, however, has been getting ready to apply to medical school later this spring. Before the pandemic started spreading, each week of Elliot’s life was planned out on a timeline, including all of her numerous academic and professional commitments. The coronavirus quickly disrupted her routine.
AMANDA: For me, it kinda really threw me, and I had to suddenly adjust all of the things I had planned. Once social distancing was enacted, and stay-at-home orders were given, everything that was pre-scheduled was canceled. And for me, that meant that my MCAT was canceled.
TRACK: The MCAT is a standardized test that is required for admission to almost all medical schools in the United States. Elliot explained how she did not receive any clear communication about how the virus would affect the exam until she found out her exam date got canceled in a mass email. The email forced her and others like her to reschedule her test day, even though testing slots usually fill up months in advance.
AMANDA: So basically, they were saying, you know, good luck finding a spot and kinda just sending us off to do that on our own. It’s not like it’s just one person trying to reschedule, it’s several people vying for the same spots, so it’s just a matter of refreshing the page and searching for it. So that came with its own anxieties. For me, it’s very stressful because a lot of the studying and preparation you do is very dependent on how much time there’s left until you take it.
TRACK: With some postsecondary schools supposedly opening their applications as early as this May to apply for the Fall 2021 school year — which is when Elliot wants to start medical school — many applicants are stressed because they don’t feel like they could fill all of the requirements needed for some of the more rigorous schools.
AMANDA: The reason I’m even, you know, worrying about this is because, in order to apply this cycle, a lot of the deadlines are upcoming and I need to have the MCAT scores to present. I just felt like there hasn’t been much accountability for that, for the effect that this could have on this cycle’s applicants.
TRACK: A lack of communication and accountability is a common sentiment echoed by many students. As colleges and employers attempt to grapple with a situation they have never really faced before, students are feeling pressure to go about their lives like they used to before the pandemic, while also occasionally being berated by their parents and teachers for not taking things seriously or not doing more to help out just because they’re spending more time at home.
AMANDA: I feel that as a CUNY student, I haven’t really had the same opportunity to think about how can I be part of the solution, how can I contribute, how can I help with everything that’s going on because I frankly really haven’t had the time. And it’s upsetting that we’re expected to go back to business as usual.
TRACK: Jessica Barakat, a 2019 graduate of Baruch College, is feeling the same pressure and frustration that Elliot expressed, even though she’s not currently applying for grad school.
JESSICA: The coronavirus pandemic shut down my job. I’m a production assistant on a live TV show and we’re officially off the air until things calm down, so there’s nothing I can do, even from home. I’m not working at all at this point.
TRACK: Barakat’s dream is to eventually become a producer on a TV show, but the only way to really break into the business is to get real-life experience. She was hoping to do just that with her internship at the Liquid Lunch news show, but with the production paused until further notice, Barakat is unsure whether to hope that she can resume her job soon or to start looking for other options.
JESSICA: Naturally, I’m as frustrated as everyone else is, because we’re self-quarantining and I’m scared because my mother and I both have health issues to an extent. So if one of us was to get the virus, it wouldn’t bode well.
TRACK: Barakat, like Elliot, also empathized with students who are not being taken seriously by their employers and educators while being at home, because she believes that many of these students are navigating through a very uncertain time right now and are also taking on more commitments.
JESSICA: I think younger people have it really bad right now, especially seniors that are graduating. A lot of these students are trying to balance multiple fully-online classes with internships and jobs. I don’t even know how students in more hands-on classes are managing, like medical students. I can’t imagine what they’re going through.
TRACK: Barakat is still annoyed, however, that some people are still not taking this pandemic seriously. She believes that some of her privileged peers and “spring breakers” in general think that they are above the coronavirus, even as their neighbors and loved ones get sick.
JESSICA: I know some people who aren’t really abiding by the recommendations of the government and health professionals. The people that are frustrating me the most, however, are the spring breakers and other groups of younger people who are basically acting like we are not facing a very easily spreading virus right now. CBS recorded some partygoers in Miami, and the students basically said, “If I get it, I get it.” It’s disgusting! They literally just care about their right to party and don’t realize what a major health crisis we’re collective battling.
TRACK: Even though Barakat is annoyed at some young people who aren’t taking their health and the health of others seriously, she is still proud of how New Yorkers have come together and supported each other, and how resilient the city has been through its worst moments.
JESSICA: I feel a great sense of community with everyone else who’s going through this, because, quite literally, we’re all in it together. We have no choice but to band together and fight this disaster, while social distancing of course.
TRACK: Currently, it doesn’t seem like students stand to gain anything for learning in the midst of a pandemic. Colleges such as New York University and Stanford University have refused to lower or refund their hefty tuition fees, even though students cannot currently access facilities that they’re paying for. Other colleges are refusing to refund room and board fees, despite students having to leave campus because of COVID-19 concerns. Finally, most college students were left out of the government’s most recent stimulus package bill, even though many of them are also tax-paying workers whose income was affected in some way. For Baruch College, this is Diana Shishkina in New York City.