WILL ROOSE, Special to The Denisonian—It seems almost impossible that the high school seniors first displaced by Covid are now hurtling through their second fall semester at college. Still, in a time where solitude seems like a distant memory, many sophomores could not feel more alone. 

Not for lack of trying, it seems, but rather an unshakeable consequence rippling through Denison’s class of 2024. While freshmen have the privilege to collectively join together in an unfamiliar environment, sophomores who are finally settling down in a Denison dorm for the first time could not feel more abandoned. 

In my own Curtis Hall, it has become commonplace to see most students roaming on their own with a blank expression, subconsciously becoming more acquainted with isolation.

There have been attempts to engage with fairs and activities, but there is only so much that can be done to “break the ice” when students feel unsure of who even classifies as a fellow sophomore.

 When I asked one student on my floor what they thought regarding this issue, they replied with a fitting, if not entirely encouraging, comparison: “It’s like riding the subway where you’re surrounded by people, but nobody is talking.” When I pressed further to see if they had met anybody in their hall or class, an even more depressing truth came forth. “Honestly, besides my roommate, you’re the first person to actually have a conversation with me.” 

Roommates seem to be the only solace in which incoming sophomores have felt a connection. My own roommate believed that without me giving him a tour of the area (I was on-campus during the 2020 fall semester), he would have been completely lost. He also mentioned how if we weren’t picked to live together, we probably would have never met. It’s an unsettling thought, especially given how he is my only tangible outreach currently.

“Are you not making enough of an effort? You can find clubs and organizations that have similar interests to your own,” one might say. “You will find friends eventually.”

It’s not that efforts haven’t been made, but rather that opportunities for sophomores have just now started to surface. Realistically, this semester will yield more relationships on the sole fact that virtual spaces have been mostly dismissed. 

Yet, the social burnout that has gone on for more than a year and a half has damaged the sophomore experience so intensely that hopelessness may have already become dominant. Put a firefly in a jar, and its attempts to escape will slowly but surely dwindle. 

I cannot describe the number of instances where I heard conversations I wanted to engage in, the times where I was hoping to see somebody from my class walking around. These may not be aspirations that overstretch the realm of possibility, but not once have they happened. It may be bad luck, but the atmosphere that I feel every day seems to say otherwise.

I suppose if this is my rallying cry against the strains of isolation, maybe it is time I introduce myself rather than as a gloomy narrator.  

“Oh hey, I didn’t see you there. Don’t mind me, just drinking my second Pumpkin Spice Latte. Why yes, I do make it gourmet in my dorm. You love movies? That’s so crazy because I happen to be a cinema major. Well, it’s convenient you want a list of curated options from the horror genre because I actually made one yesterday.” 

Oh well, back to reality.