by Andrew Chodes

Story updated on October 24 at 11:44 PM.

The world changed in March 2020. Students and teachers alike had to adjust to online school. Hugs, handshakes, and hellos all went away for the foreseeable future. 

And with the pandemic came mental health issues.

“COVID took an emotional toll on the average college student, however, some students who struggled before COVID with mental health issues were immobilized,” said Keri Chernuchin, a clinical psychologist who works with college students.

90% of students said their health worsened because of the pandemic during the spring 2020 semester, a survey by University of Maryland mental health advocacy group Active Minds found.

Not being in the classroom was even more difficult for current sophomores, who had both their senior year of high school and freshman year of college stripped from them. 

Andrew Laub, a sophomore international business major, described himself as a “COVID freshman” and said last year’s academic experience almost wasn’t worth it.

“It was getting difficult to have any real internal motivation to perform in class, and I didn’t feel I had a lot of opportunities to get myself mentally sharp.”

Chase Rowland, a sophomore letters and sciences student, said in-person class has drastically improved his mental health.

“Going back to normal school has also helped my mental and many others because instead of being cooped up in a room all day you get to go out and meet new people and relax your mind on the calming walks.”

Now, all UMD students are back in the classroom, interacting with other students, their professors, and experiencing the return to a new normal. 

“Although many students continue to face many challenges over the last year and a half,” Chernuchin said, “the recent new ‘normal’ return to campus classroom functioning has supported some repair and growth of mental health.”