{"id":34783,"date":"2021-01-14T15:20:08","date_gmt":"2021-01-14T20:20:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/?p=34783"},"modified":"2023-09-21T14:12:13","modified_gmt":"2023-09-21T18:12:13","slug":"students-are-ready-to-see-friends-and-start-classes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/2021\/01\/students-are-ready-to-see-friends-and-start-classes\/","title":{"rendered":"Students are ready to see friends and start classes"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Mocs football player Daniel Brent moves back into his room in Johnson Obear Apartments.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Operation Move In General Information: https:\/\/bit.ly\/3sjnm62<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Operation Move In Testing Information: https:\/\/bit.ly\/2N4rB5r<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

John Pavelchik spent the holiday break pretty much doing nothing, so getting back to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga was a relief.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was honestly itching to get back. I spent a lot of winter just sitting on my hands, so I was real excited to get back here,\u201d he said as he loaded stuff from his car\u2014including four 12-packs of Coca-Cola Cherry and a teddy bear from his girlfriend\u2014onto a pushcart and rolled it into West Campus housing, where he lived in fall semester.<\/p>\n

Having dealt with the precautions and pressures of COVID-19 during fall semester, any worries are lessened now, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like everyone  who\u2019s moving in after last semester knows what to expect and there\u2019s a lot less pressure,\u201d said Pavelchik, a freshman from East Ridge.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the feeling many students expressed as they toted their belongings into campus housing Thursday on Operation Move In. Wearing masks, social distancing and washing hands are now part of their daily routines, so adjusting to the new requirements is behind them. Now they\u2019re looking forward to reuniting with friends and getting back to their studies.<\/p>\n

Ethan Hoke, a freshman from Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, said it feels good just to be back on campus.<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/em>You\u2019re going to miss home, but that\u2019s only the first few weeks. You get used to it eventually,\u201d Hoke said. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be good to see a bunch of my friends again, all the people I\u2019ve met, and just have these new classes start.\u201d<\/p>\n

Operation Move In on Thursday was far less hectic than in fall semester, although 194 more students now live in on-campus housing than in the fall, for a total of about 2,800. Move In officially runs from Jan. 13 through the start of classes on Jan. 19, with a few students here and there coming in until Jan. 30. Each housing unit had a set number of students moving in each day.<\/p>\n

All students had to be tested the day they were scheduled to move into the housing units with results coming back in about 20 minutes. The set number of students allowed to move into each unit and the testing helped prevent traffic snarls caused by continuous streams of students.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur Residence Education team has built online appointments to help spread out our students during the move-in process as well as planning programs throughout the semester. University Health Services will be testing students prior to housing check-in to help minimize the spread,\u201d said Carling Wilson, associate director of administrative services in the Department of Housing and Residence Life.<\/p>\n

Worries about COVID-19 were lessened since extensive preparation by University health, housing and administrators prior to fall semester prevented the virus from becoming a major problem on campus.<\/p>\n

\u201cHousing and Residence Life along with University Health Services have been working together to ensure the safe return of our students,\u201d Wilson said. \u201cWe are making the best of an odd situation, and we want to continue to provide an environment for students\u2019 academic success,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Stephanie Carroll, mother of freshman Ashleigh, helped her daughter move back into Decosimo Apartments on Thursday. A computer monitor in her arms, Carroll said she was \u201cimpressed\u201d with UTC officials\u2019 efforts to manage COVID-19 in fall semester. She kept an eye on the numbers for on-campus infections and \u201cthey were  low,\u201d she said, so she had no worries about her daughter returning to campus with the pandemic still raging.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe kids in the stories she told, everybody does their thing. They wear their masks; they don\u2019t complain. You just follow the rules,\u201d she said. \u201cSo,  yeah, super happy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yancy Freeman, vice chancellor for Enrollment Management and Student Affairs, noted that living in campus housing can lead to better academic performance and success.<\/p>\n

\u201cStudents who live on campus are more likely to have higher grades, return for future semester and graduate with a degree,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are excited to welcome back our Resident Mocs. Spring 2021 is going to be an amazing semester because we have the best community of students living here.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a linebacker on the Mocs football team, sophomore Daniel Brent is tested regularly, so \u201cI\u2019m kind of used to it already.\u201d Beyond that, though, the University\u2019s COVID precautions and testing recommendations for everyone on campus make him feel safer.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re more comfortable being around friends who are not on your team,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

Phoebe Babb, a freshman from Cookeville, Tennessee, said all her courses were online in fall semester, so she\u2019ll be having her first face-to-face classes in about a year. She\u2019s a bit nervous about everyone in the same classroom.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I\u2019m excited about that, too, because it will be easier to learn.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eli Buchanan, a freshman from McMinnville, Tennessee, described it as \u201ccool\u201d to be back.<\/p>\n

\u201cUTC is a lot bigger than my hometown, and it\u2019s just fun to see these people again.\u201d<\/p>\n

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