Missing from college life — the DU experience

Two years of campus learning disrupted by COVID-19, the graduating class of 2022 has fewer memories, more laments  

S.V. Vaishnavi  

They came, they saw, they graduated. That’s the story of Delhi University’s batch of 2022 in short, and perhaps in the longer version. Between July 2019, when the undergraduate students joined the colleges, and May 2022, when they wrote their final-year papers, there weren’t enough campus days for them to add their rich “DU experience” to the story.

A deadly virus disrupted the joys of teaching and learning during the last two years and among the worst sufferers of the COVID-19 pandemic were the students who got to attend physical classes for barely six months before the universities shut down. 

The experience of college life has remained unfulfilled for the soon-to-be graduates. The batch of 2022 is perhaps the unluckiest, having to miss two substantial years of their academic life, compelled to stare at laptop screens instead of classroom boards and switch to Netflix during online classes in place of perhaps bunking classes for a cultural fest. 

“We attended the freshers’ party and now the farewell.  The in-between happening months of life in DU, making friends, organising and attending cultural fests, competitions and club activities, interacting with professors and classmates, everything went missing,” rued Deepika, an English (Hon) student at Hansraj College. The pre-COVID six months experience is all that she treasures now of her college life. 

Like her, there are many who dreamt of studying in DU, being a part of the bustling beauty of the campus and enjoying the kerfuffle over events. “But all of it remains unfulfilled now,” Deepika added. “The new normal was difficult to adjust to; initially I was glad about the mini-vacation, attending classes from the comfort of my bed and avoiding the Delhi heat,” said Isha, a political science (Hon) student at Sri Aurobindo College. “But when it prolonged to two dreadful years of mundaneness, it became a struggle to cope with,” she said. 

Sejal, a B.Com student from Jesus and Mary College, was part of the college education programme (JMCEP) that entails teaching underprivileged children residing near the university.  Many children did not have smartphones to connect online. Some of their phones had WhatsApp facility and we used that to teach the children and keep in touch with their parents,” she said, adding, “We managed to fulfil the programme objective.” There were many others who utilised the time in exploring new hobbies and skills and rediscovering themselves.