The 'guinea pig' generation: How the pandemic shaped this year's college freshmen

The 'guinea pig' generation: How the pandemic shaped this year's college freshmen

COVID-19 defined the high school experiences of many students entering college this fall. "I went from 16 to 18 in a blur," says one freshman.

How the pandemic shaped this year's college freshmen

The first year of college is hard enough on its own, as students learn their way around campus, figure out how to study and balance classes, and make new friends. It’s been much harder for this year’s freshmen, who spent more than half of their high-school careers dealing with the disruptions of the pandemic. To get a feel for what that transition has been like, we asked first-year students from around the country one question: What is something…

'We were the guinea pig generation': How the pandemic shaped current college freshmen

We asked first-year students from around the country one question: What is something they missed out on in high school because of the pandemic, and how did that affect their first semester in college?