kolkata for the last few weeks gunjan rathis day has been beginning at 745am within 15 minutes of dragging herself out of the bed she is in college a virtual one gunjans experience is not different from that of thousands of other youngsters who rue the fact that they have been robbed of a milestone in their lives due to the pandemicthat of attending classes on a college campus i took admission in september and have attended several classes since then but i am yet to see the inside of a college said gunjan who has taken admission to loreto college till last year the first few weeks of college life meant making new friends banter with seniors exploring college canteens and paying a quick visit to the eateries near the campus but the pandemic changed everything now for the ug firstsemester students the first few weeks mean getting a strong internet connection positioning the smartphone or laptop at the right angle to hide their pyjamas during online classes and keeping their families and pets out of the frameall newcomers look forward to freshers welcome where seniors give them a crash course on the legacy of their institutes a gettogether filled with songs dance and of course food sometimes love also blossoms devlina chatterjee met her future husband pulak at their freshers welcome first we exchanged notes and then our hearts now we share a home said the seth anandaram jaipuria college alumnabut the covid year saw seniors holding online freshers ceremony we could not repeat the funfilled introduction that our seniors held for us on the campus last year so last week we secondyear students decided that we would meet our juniors online helping collegemates cutting departments and batches has been a presidency tradition we did not want our juniors to be denied the connect just because we are having offcampus classes said a secondyear student of sociology department at presidency university the first step into a campus is like a whiff of fresh air that fills up a youngster with a sense of independence the gamut of emotions young adults go through in those few moments can never be brought back said bivas chaudhury of the alumni association of presidency university several principals and administrators of colleges and universities too sympathize with the batch of 2020 the first day in college is a mixed bag of feelings of both excitement and apprehension it shapes the college lives of these students and cement the bonds with friends the entire focus is on the new joinees while they are introduced to a new life as adults said deepali singhee principal of j d birla institute