Impact of Coronavirus

Move-In Day, Take Two

Posted on September 6, 2021 by Lucy Pan

By Lucy Pan '24 Move-in day for first-year college students is often seen as a significant moment in one’s transition to college. It’s the day when we leave our families and truly step into adulthood for the first time, and it usually occurs at the beginning of our first semester. I’d watched videos of students celebrating this step in their journey with their families and a...

My (Not So) Strange Addiction to Social Media

Posted on August 27, 2021 by Sonam Rikha

By Sonam Rikha ‘24 Addiction: “a compulsive, chronic, physiological or psychological need for a habit-forming substance, behavior, or activity having harmful physical, psychological, or social effects and typically causing well-defined symptoms (such as anxiety, irritability, tremors, or nausea) upon withdrawal or abstinence” (Merriam Webster Dictionary). If I’m being hon...

Return to Pomona?

Posted on August 16, 2021 by Leslie Paz

Leslie giving peace sign in front of washing machine

By Leslie Paz ’24 Crossing through Pomona’s gates as a sophomore was weird to say the least. After a whole year online, my long awaited arrival to campus (and traditional entry through Pomona’s gates) was surreal and like a dream. My first few days were filled with excitement and just a little hint of confusion. To set the scene, I started the day by walking in circles a...

What Is Research Anyway? (Don’t worry, I had no idea either)

Posted on July 30, 2021August 4, 2021 by Youssef El Mosalami

group of 9 students smiling for selfie shot outside

By Youssef El Mosalami ‘24 After a grueling online semester full of multiple spontaneous FaceTime calls, outings in NYC with other Pomona students who lived in the area, and turning off my camera during class to nom down on some lunch (don’t tell my professors), I definitely missed being able to give friends hugs when I saw them or just being in the physical presence of oth...

Never Say Never: My Journey Through Math

Posted on July 27, 2021July 23, 2021 by Sonam Rikha

$two math medals$

By Sonam Rikha ’24 I will never take a math class again, I promised myself. It was my last day in high school. I proudly exited out of my virtual AP Calculus class and then hurled my calculus notebook into the trash. Despite the deep disgust I’d developed for analyzing functions, I’d miraculously aced my math class and passed the AP test, all while during the pandemic. Only ...

Finding Home in Online Spaces

Posted on June 25, 2021July 15, 2021 by Lucy Pan

By Lucy Pan ‘24 When the COVID-19 pandemic first started back in March of 2020, I could’ve never imagined that it would completely change the course of my entire first year of college. The abrupt transition from everyday in-person classes to Zoom school was uncomfortable, but I accepted this changing reality as temporary— a short phase from which we would eventually return t...

Somehow, Some Way, Community Finds You

Posted on June 17, 2021 by Ben Baraga

group of 7 students attempting to do freeze frame jump

By Ben Baraga ‘24 Although I’ve finished my first year of college, just like the rest of my classmates, I’m mentally stuck in March of my senior year of high school! Indeed, nothing wakes you up out of a 15-month spring break like being called a “rising sophomore” and the wave of nausea that comes with it. But being bitter about a global pandemic is sooo last semester. I’...

Embracing My Inner Grandma

Posted on June 10, 2021 by Sonam Rikha

By Sonam Rikha ‘24 I feel like I’ve been sprinting these past five years, thinking that if I stop, I’ll trip and fall. Growing up, my parents emphasized two things: “Education comes first” and “Take advantage of every opportunity.” When I started my first year of high school I clung onto these phrases and made sure to fill my schedule with difficult classes and many extracur...

Voting in Two Presidential Elections During the Pandemic

Posted on May 18, 2021 by Sonam Rikha

By Sonam Rikha ‘24 In the months leading up to the US presidential race, my Instagram was flooded with messages telling me to register to vote. Whether it was Cardi B, the kids from Stranger Things, or my fellow classmates, all seemed to want one thing: for me to exercise my civic right and vote. Luckily for me, I was already registered and, by the time October came, ...

How I Made My College Decision Without Visiting Pomona

Posted on April 8, 2021April 7, 2021 by Chris Meng

illustration of Cecil the Sagehen with a Pomona parachute

By Chris Meng ’23 Getting a phone call telling me that I was admitted off the Pomona waitlist was incredibly exciting. The downside: I had just one week to make my decision, and I would not have the opportunity to visit campus in that week. Let me lay out my rough recollection of my actions that fateful week in mid-May in hopes that they will be helpful to you. Celebrat...