The global COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly changed the lives of seven billion people in the world. As a result, college students are just one of the many groups learning to adapt to this new normal. How did a virus begin with one person in Wuhan, China, affect the very own lives of ourselves and our loved ones?
In the “ASU Student Diaries” series, we will change our lenses and view the surroundings of ASU students all over the world; whether it’s a student living on campus, at home, out of state, or even outside of the U.S., all to catch a glimpse of how they are acclimating while getting their education during this pandemic.
Catch up on Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, Part VI and Part VII.
Part VIII
Cronkite student Joelena Sandoval has not had the freshman college experience she always thought she would, but the journalism student still remains motivated and excited for what her future will bring.
Sandoval is in Barrett the Honors College, majoring in journalism and mass communication, and minoring in fashion. She decided to pair her strong writing skills with a love for art and fashion in deciding her major and minor.
Her dream is to one day live in Los Angeles or New York City and work as a magazine writer.
She is getting her foot in the fashion journalism industry as a member of the Fashion Journalism Club where she is a writer for the club’s magazine, The Chic Mag.
Sandoval is also a member of Alpha Omicron Pi sorority, Green Greeks, and the Walter Cronkite College Council.
From the opportunities ASU has to offer, to the short three-hour drive back to her hometown of Yuma, Sandoval knew ASU would be the perfect fit for her.
“I knew the journalism school was really good and being close to family was important. So ASU is perfect because it has exactly what I was looking for,” she said.
However, Sandoval says that this past semester has definitely not been without its challenges. She says that transitioning to college-level coursework has been one of the biggest challenges for her.
“I knew college was going to be harder, but I didn’t expect it to be this much harder.”
Sandoval said that not having been in a classroom setting since March made the transition to the coursework even harder.
“My senior year of high school got cut short. So I hadn’t really been doing much schoolwork, it was like a really long summer break and my mind wasn’t ready for all the learning again.”
The freshman currently lives in Taylor Place and loves socializing and getting to meet new people, but because of COVID-19, it has been hard for her to do so.
“I always imagined that during my freshman year of college I would have all these friends because I would be meeting so many people, but in reality, I wasn’t really able to meet a lot of people.”
While there have been several challenges that Sandoval has had to overcome during her first semester, she remains excited about what college will be like after the pandemic. She is looking forward to being able to attend in-person sorority events, experience college game days, and plan events for Walter Cronkite College Council.
Contact the reporter at mtorrest@asu.edu.
