ARCADIA, Calif. — A majority of California’s college students had no choice but to take classes remotely this semester due to the pandemic. For many seniors, that means spending their final year of college at home.
Travis Chen, a senior at USC, agrees with the decision to move classes online but thinks the value of his education has somewhat changed.
“We’re paying so much tuition to utilize the university operations, including the libraries and going to different events and programming for students, so it’s not the same,” Chen said. “I obviously wish that tuition was a little bit lower but am still thankful that we have great technology to be able to learn from professors that are incredible.”
Chen’s views are in line with the majority of people in the Los Angeles area, according to an exclusive Spectrum News/Ipsos poll, which found that 67% of respondents agree that all California colleges and universities should be closed and only offer virtual classes. Twenty-two percent disagreed.
The poll was conducted earlier this month with 1,400 state residents, 824 of whom live in Los Angeles and the surrounding areas. The poll has a credibility interval, a measure of precision used for online polls, of +/- 3.0% for all respondents.
Chen has moved back home to Arcadia. He could still live near campus with friends but wants to stay healthy.
“If I were there, it would be very intriguing for me to go out and see friends and go out to different events and stuff, and that would have caused me to be potentially exposed to the COVID 19 virus,” Chen said.
Travis’s twin sister Monica is also at home. She’s a senior at Boston University and had the option to go back to the classroom. Yet, she decided to avoid a mandatory quarantine.
“California cases are way higher than those in Boston, and so at the time, if you wanted to go back, you had to quarantine for two weeks and then be able to explore the city,” Monica said. “I like being at home and enjoying home.”
Monica probably won’t return to Boston as a college student or see her friends before graduation. She and her brother miss being on campus but admit being at home has perks, including free rent and groceries.
Their graduation day will likely be online, too, a day they’ve dreamed about since they were little. They wish they could walk the stage, but there is a silver lining.
“It’s actually a blessing that our graduation is online because our graduation days are actually the same day,” Monica said. “Had it actually been in person, our families would have had to split up, and some people go to Boston and some to L.A.”
They’ll finish senior year much differently than expected, but they’ll finish together.