I would like to think that last semester, we, as the student body, learned our lesson. SUNY Oswego, just like a few other schools within the SUNY system, experienced an outbreak of COVID-19 at least once during the semester. 

Sure, we did not get as bad as SUNY Cortland or SUNY Oneonta which were forced to go remote for the remainder of the semester; as we only had to go on New York state’s mandatory two-week pause after crossing the 100-case threshold. 

But during that two-week pause, no extra-curricular activities were allowed. Many student clubs on-campus were halted, and students who had labs and other hands-on classes were not allowed to proceed. Even then, following the pause, there were more restrictions that were appropriately added. The Oswegonian was no exception to the limitations placed by school officials.

Our staff, like all other students who chose to stay at school, muscled through. As we published our last issue of the semester on Nov. 20, we could only hope that the spring semester would come with less restrictions. All The Oswegonian could have wanted was a weekly issue that was our “normal” size and full access to our newsroom. Our staff handed in our finals, some graduated and we prepared for the spring semester, looking forward to a well-deserved break from school.

While things did not get better as the winter break went on, we knew we would be limited once again. Once again, The Oswegonian will have a maximum of two staff members at any given time in our office, and we will publish bi-weekly. 

My last semester at SUNY Oswego will be anything but normal. Then again, for the last year, has anything truly been normal? While hope for normalcy has gone out the door for me and my classmates, I believe this semester’s graduating seniors have one primary job, outside of getting ready to graduate of course. 

This semester, we have to think about the future. Not only our futures as we prepare to graduate and look for jobs, hopefully in our respective fields, but we also have to think about next year’s senior class. Some will be taking over clubs and organizations that have not seen normalcy since at least March 2020. 

Last year, The Oswegonian’s last issue was on March 13. We had a few online articles here and there until Sept. 11, with our first issue of last semester. Our friends at WNYO and WTOP-10 did not have access to their studios last semester. Club sports have been canceled all year long. No clubs were able to host in-person meetings or events. The list goes on and on.

In general, some students do not know what normal “college life” is: hanging out in friends’ dorms without a mask, eating at the dining hall with several friends or even sitting in front of a professor with others right next to you without masks on. 

We need to do everything we can in order to help students get a normal year next year. From a club standpoint, we need to make sure we are training these up-and-coming leaders effectively, teaching them what normal operations look like. From a student body point of view, we need to be smart. Get tested. Avoid large gatherings. Wear a mask. It is stuff everyone has heard since the beginning of this pandemic. 

But now more than ever, we have to make a statement. We have to band together to avoid issues like we faced last semester. Let us not do it for only us who are graduating and looking to get as much enjoyment out of our last semester as possible, but for those students who are returning next year.