The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a lot from students and now the campus is even more divided between residents, commuters and remote-learning students. Even if you’re on campus regularly, you might be feeling like something isn’t the same – like you’re missing out on all the great experiences of college life.  

During the school week, Iona offers many educational yet fun projects and events for its students. Guest speakers are always welcomed into the school’s departments, art-exhibits are often displayed, and community and outreach services are always activities worth the time. But all these things took a drastic halt due to COVID-19. 

Nights at Beechmont Tavern, Spectator’s Sports Club, hanging out with friends in the dorm common spaces and frat parties all seem like distant memories for many – things just haven’t been the same. Scrolling through TikTok until 2 a.m is not the ideal Saturday night for most Gaels, but that’s just our reality. 

Senior Natalia Pena is currently enjoying her online class experience in Miami Beach, Florida. Despite being someone who does not socialize much, Pena misses the comfort her roommates gave her.  

“Granted, our group chat is still quite strong, but it just isn’t the same as seeing them with their bowls of coffee  and distaste for chocolate,” Pena said. ”I miss our weekly pasta nights after night class and my every-few-months-trip to the city with another group of friends. I miss the community I made there that isn’t the same as one as powerful on a digital scale.”  

Those on campus feel like they are being hit with FOMO – the fear of missing out – the worst. They attend classes as they normally would but are completely fenced in as no one can interact like they used to.  

Junior Riley White is sentimental about losing one and a half years of her college experience. Although the pandemic has brought on illness and deaths to American lives, the happiness of college-aged kids is often overlooked. People assume that the lack of social interactions can be easily overcome, but that is not the case for students who are used to heavy socialization and involvement on their college campus. 

“Though I’m on campus, I feel like I’m missing out on so many activities,” White said. “I miss going to basketball games, eating at Lapenta, even going to all my classes in person. Some days it feels like I wake up to hang out in my dorm all day.”  

Most students remember reading Iona’s extended Spring Break email, then the closure announcement email and then trying to figure out how to work Zoom. FOMO reached its peak in the spring when the ’99 babies were turning 21 and spent their birthday home- not to mention the virtual graduation for the class of ’20.  

But now, a year later, when Iona’s students are snuggled in with online schooling, most students probably had mixed reactions to the recent announcement of Iona College’s full reopening for the Fall 2021 semester. The bubbling atmosphere at Iona is expected to be in full swing as students will try to make up for their FOMO during the quarantine. It’s clear that the parties are not what FOMO is all about, but the meaningful, in-person connections we make with one another.