HU students left for spring break two weeks ago without knowing they would have to say goodbye to their friends, professors, faculty and campus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

By Laura Caicedo, Staff Writer

The decision to move all classes online for the rest of the spring semester was one that Huntington University took after all colleges and universities in the country were faced with the contagious nature of the coronavirus.

Although this decision was necessary, seniors and underclassmen have been feeling as if their last days at Huntington have been ripped out of their hands very suddenly.

During spring break, emails started to flow into every student’s Outlook with express move-out forms, refunds for food and accommodation, and revised syllabi and Zoom meetings already scheduled.

Meg Dolde, a student from Germany, is one of the seniors who saw their plans change drastically after graduation.

“Originally, I was going to take the year off and travel, however, that is currently not possible,” said Dolde. “My second option was to look for a job, however, most companies are on a hiring freeze which makes it extremely hard to find a job right now.”

Her plans are now to get her MBA, but hasn’t decided which college to attend yet. In the meantime, she has been lucky to keep her internship at Reusser Design while working from home.

Other change of plans for her was how her tennis season ended abruptly.

“Since we thought we still had the spring, I haven’t had a senior day and also our spring tennis trip to Hilton Head Island was cancelled,” said Dolde.

As summer draws near, her plans are up in the air, but something that lessened the stress is the good news of getting one year of eligibility back, meaning that she will be able to play tennis while getting her masters.

Another student athlete at HU who has struggled with shake-ups is Aspen Dirr, a senior who molded her last spring semester around focusing on both track and student teaching.

“I actually finished my student teaching one week into the school shutdown, during spring break,” said Dirr.

Lucky to have all her graduation requirements done before the virus hit the US, Dirr said her plans for outdoor season didn’t go as she had planned.

Though she got to taste victory as a NAIA track national champion, she still thinks she could have trained more.

“I am really bummed because there were a lot of things that I wanted to accomplish during outdoor, such as personal records, more all-American awards, and so much more,” said Dirr.