Many out-of-state first-year students had to wait a few months to finally get their full on-campus Michigan State University experience.
Psychology freshman Madi Feige is from Connecticut, and attended MSU from nearly 800 miles away this past fall.
“I just couldn’t stay at home anymore,” Feige said. “I think it was good that and I feel like I needed some experience on campus because I feel like if I just came on campus, sophomore year, second year, I would be so lost… So I’m glad that I did come and that’s why I wanted to come to lay down some beginning groundwork.”
In the fall, MSU //We don’t want “only” there where it would modify “allowed.” We also don’t want to put it with “just under.” Let’s drop it. Your point is still made.// allowed just under 2,000 students to live in the dorms. Spots went to those who called MSU their home and needed to be on campus for WiFi connection and other reasons.
This spring, double the students were allowed and spaced throughout more residence halls on campus.
Feige visited campus once before, two years ago, and her experience has been different than what she saw then.
“Yes, there are more people on campus this semester, but when I was here you just saw so many people outside … wherever you looked there were people having fun and having tailgates with their families and their friends and it is just so completely different now,” Feige said. “You see people outside walking, but you don’t really see that many people, so it’s really different.”
Human biology freshman Christina Horgan is from upstate New York, and never visited campus prior to committing.
“I work as a camp counselor at a horseback riding camp in Croswell, Michigan. So I just met a lot of people from Michigan through that camp, I’ve been going there for eight years.” Horgan said.
MSU appealed to her because it was the opposite of her small private high school.
Similarly to Feige, Horgan felt the need to be closer to school and get away from hometowns that were at such a distance from campus.
“It’s definitely been different because there were people who were on campus for a semester and they already kind of had their friend groups from first semester,” Horgan said. “I’ve definitely gotten a lot of like, typical college experience, like eating at the dining hall and like figuring out how to live on my own and stuff.”
Horgan didn’t apply to live on campus until spring due to her mother’s concern with COVID-19.
“Honestly, it wasn’t really my choice. It was more my mom’s choice. But she was just really afraid of COVID. Especially because COVID was a lot worse during first semester,” Horgan said. “I feel like they really got a handle on it this semester, which is why she felt safer. letting me come here this semester, but really, it was just because of COVID.”
Horgan’s mom was originally reluctant to let her come in the spring as well, but with the roll-out of the vaccine and more protocols, she relented.
With a delayed start to their on-campus college experience, the out-of-state barrier made it initially more difficult to find friends.
Feige said, “I think there’s a lot of in-state people here, and I have met maybe two people from Connecticut and I feel like people from in-state already have a one-up on everything. They have friends already and it’s been hard making friends here because I didn’t even get to meet people on my floor. So it was really difficult because there’s like, half the amount of people in my building than there usually would be.”
Both have found it valuable to be able to experience the campus despite the circumstances, and think it will be a great benefit to them this fall, as most classes are planned to be in-person.
“I’m just able to do more things like COVID safe things. At home, I was just at home,” Feige said. “I am from a small town. So there’s really nothing to do. And also, almost all my friends were at college, so I didn’t see any of my friends. So life is boring at home and so now I am on campus … able to do stuff and I’m able to meet people and which has been nice.”