Registration  tends to be a stressful time for any St. Lawrence student. Waking up at 7am and hoping that our APR2 page refreshes quickly enough so that we can click the “Register” button for the courses we need is a hectic experience even when students are on campus. This year, there were some added stressors. Being one week after from our remote registration that took place amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, students have been reflecting on their experience and how it was more stressful than usual.

Alison Clark ‘21 said she experienced WiFi troubles that resulted in her not getting into crucial courses for her major.  “ The ‘process complete, updating schedule’ notification took much longer than normal,” Clark said.

Additionally, Clark said it was discomforting that she was unable to meet with her advisor in person to ensure that she was taking the right courses, and this led to her not being able to pre-register for classes that fill up quickly.

Clark said her registration troubles will likely result in her needing to change her major from Neuroscience to Biology as a rising senior. She said this is mainly due to the limited number of seats in classes that only had one section listed for the fall semester, making it difficult for many students to get a seat in classes they need to complete their major.

Bailey Eveleth ‘22 said she had similar frustrations as Clark. Eveleth is a Performance and Communication Arts major who said she had a difficult time choosing which classes she would have to prioritize for each registration day because of the limited seats each one had.

This seemed to be the experience of many students during the registration period––the small number of seats in courses for some of the more popular majors on campus having limited seats. But there seems to be more factors contributing to the inability of students to get a seat in classes than just WiFi troubles and clicking a button fast enough.

Students who have been accepted into study abroad programs for the fall semester were also allowed to register in case their programs were cancelled. This means some students who might not be on campus in the fall have places in classes, and class rosters are likely going to continue to change throughout the registration period. But this uncertainty is also unnerving for many students.

Vivian Zymeck ‘23 said that all of the professors and faculty at SLU have been accommodating with online communication, but one thing they cannot help with is the uncertainty of next semester.

“I hear so many people rumoring about not coming back next semester and doing more remote learning because of COVID-19, and that left me feeling less motivated when I was looking for my classes,” Zymeck said, “that would have never gone through my mind if we were still on campus.”

The uncertainty of whether or not students will be returning to campus in the fall creates complications for both students and professors, and both are eager to find out the fate of the upcoming fall semester.

The latest update the university sent out presented four possible options for the future. According to St. Lawrence’s website, the options are as following: return to campus as planned in August 2020, delayed start to the fall semester with some coursework online, return to campus in January 2021 with online instruction in Fall 2020, or return to campus in Fall 2021 with online instruction throughout the 2020-21 academic year. Whatever the outcome may be, many students are trying to stay optimistic during this difficult time.

Natalie Piper, class of 2022, is a student from Hawaii and said she is thinking a lot of the St. Lawrence community during this time, no matter how far away she is from campus.

“I hope the new normal includes the North Country,” Piper said.