On March 12, students received an email from President Wendy Wintersteen regarding the 2021-22 academic year. The email detailed how Iowa State will be “moving forward to a new normal” with hopes that academics will be fully in person once again.

This email gave students a peek into what the new academic year will look like after all the craziness surrounding the pandemic. Many students have weighed in with their thoughts on the proposed new normal.

Madison Stolen, a sophomore in community and regional planning, said how she is looking forward to getting back on campus safely.

“Assuming the majority of campus is going to be vaccinated, I am excited to get back into a normal schedule after a year and a half,” Stolen said.

Many students seem to be looking forward to in-person courses, along with more on-campus opportunities. Macey Hofer, a sophomore in linguistics, explained why she is looking forward to in-person classes.

“I am excited to get back to learning in person because I find it much easier to pay attention and to focus,” Hofer said. “I am also excited to start having more campus events through Iowa State and through the sorority and fraternity community.”

Many students also find some challenges with returning to fully in-person classes. Vanessa Vedder, a sophomore in event management, said that “for the next school year, I think that there will be new challenges that come with having in-person classes and it will bring unique learning curves.”

Ashton Randolph, sophomore in electrical engineering, explained her worries with the return to in-person classes.

“I am looking forward to in-person classes next semester because it is much easier to learn,” Randolph said. “However, I am nervous about the rigor of timed in-person exams. I definitely get test anxiety and this makes it worse.”

Students have also shared their thoughts on how they think and hope this new school year will look.

Vedder discussed how she thinks this new year will look.

“I think people will still have social distancing in place, but we will be more hands on in the classroom. Some larger lecture halls may still be at half capacity or used for smaller classes,” she said. 

Natalia Gamboa, sophomore in psychology, detailed her experience with online class and what she looks forward to with the new year.

“I appreciate the flexibility that online class gives me, but I do miss the atmosphere of being on campus,” Gamboa said. “I am grateful for the opportunity to get a little more of a typical college experience with the new normal, even if it’s masked and socially distanced.”