Aria, 1st-Year Experience

When I entered my first year as an undergraduate student last fall, I was a bit anxious about starting post-secondary education in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. I was concerned about transitioning to a completely virtual environment for independent online learning. However, I soon realized that the Geographic Analysis program was well equipped to aid students remotely. My professors and teaching assistants regularly addressed the nerves and stress we felt towards the online environment and were reassuring and always on hand to offer help through email, in class and during online office hours.

As a first-year university student, I was excited to socialize and meet new people but wasn’t sure if this was going to be possible during the pandemic. However, there are still so many ways that students can get to know each other. The Student Association of Geographic Analysis holds regular online meetings and events such as a games night and student mingle night. They also share resources and tools to help us study. Socializing has helped me so much this year and has allowed me and other first-years to feel like we have people around us. Having this gateway for great communication has been vital in the pandemic.