Perspective from beyond the Hill: shedding a light on students who are taking a leave of absence this semester

Hardly any Colby student would deny that they are grateful to be back on campus for the fall semester. It is a universal truth that Zoom classes are substantially inferior to in-person classes, and “asynchronous learning” might as well be called “trying to teach yourself with the textbook.” 

But what about the students who didn’t have the option to be on campus this fall? Of course, this is not to say that Colby did not give every student the opportunity to be on campus, but the mere offering of a choice is hardly the same as ensuring equal opportunity. 

After all, it was much easier for students who are US citizens, for students without underlying health concerns, for students who had classes that were majority in-person to decide to be on campus this semester. Yet, on the other side, there are the international students, high-risk students, and students whose departments were almost all virtual— it can barely be said that they too were given an equal chance to study on-campus when they had far more obstacles to overcome than the rest of the student body. 

However, none of this is meant to undermine the extraordinary amount of time and money the administration invested to even allow for students to be on campus this fall. 

Colby has one of the most robust testing programs compared to other colleges in the nation, yet they are not so highly restrictive that students are practically confined to staying in their dorm. No one can deny that when compared to other institutions, Colby is surpassing almost all expectations. 

While this is certainly something that should be celebrated, it is important to remember that not every member of the Colby community is able to enjoy this opportunity. 

The Colby Echo sat down with one of the students in this predicament, Rachel Powers `22J. Powers is taking a leave of absence this semester because her department was predominantly remote, and she would not have had the opportunity to take in-person classes even if she was on campus. 

“I felt like it was unfair to myself and to my family to go to campus because it seemed absurd to be paying that amount of money to sit in my apartment,” Powers said. “I would essentially be paying a price, the Colby price tag of $30,000 for rent . . . that felt absurd, which was a huge part of my decision to sit this fall out.” 

Most people might assume that students who decided to take a leave of absence did so solely because of health concerns, but they overlook the potential financial reasons behind the decision. After all, not everyone had the chance to take in-person classes this semester, especially since it varied by department. 

While it can be argued that the on-campus experience extends beyond simply taking in-person classes, not everyone can afford to bridge that gap. 

“I just ultimately felt like my time at Colby is finite, my access to these academic resources— that time is finite— but my community, hopefully, is long withstanding beyond Colby,” Powers explained.

Powers felt that the administration and faculty need to support students more now than they may have had to in the past.

“I do think that the administration has a responsibility at the very least to be supporting students on all levels, more thoroughly on all levels beyond kind of the academic realm,” Powers said. “This social moment right now, kind of the convergence of Black Lives Matter and the pandemic . . . there is so much going on in everyone’s world, and I think people need support in a lot of different ways.”

“So making counseling more accessible, making sure there is an emergency fund that people can access if they need to get home,” Powers continued. “These kinds of things are all important to making a learning environment more conducive to learning.” 

All in all, being on campus is a privilege and not just because of the current circumstances. The “One Colby” slogan serves as a reminder that being in-person is something that cannot be taken for granted. But in the midst of all this, Colby should also remember the students in the community who do not have these same opportunities. 

~Hae-Jung Kim `24