One student attending Morningside University had much to say about his freshman year and the effects COVID-19 had on it.

Caden Schulte, a mass communications major from Sioux City, Iowa, was only a freshman in the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

“To be honest, I didn’t really make a lot of life changes,” Schulte said about how his life was different because of the disease. “I’m more of an introvert, and I stay at my house a lot anyways. COVID forcing me to stay home wasn’t a big change.”

Schulte so far has been one of the lucky ones, having never caught the virus so far. He has had tested twice, both times negative, and been quarantined both of those times.

Being a snapper on the football team has brought its own set of unique changes to his life as well.

“I was going to play on a lot of the junior varsity football games in a normal year, but because of COVID, we only had two of those games,” Schulte explained. “Since the travel roster was cut down, I never got to go to away games.”

In addition, Schulte wasn’t even able to attend some of the home games.

“The stadium capacity limit forced me to miss even the home games that we had. I never got the experience of being a full-time student in that sense, I guess.”

Living only a few blocks from campus, Schulte has been a commuter in his tenure at Morningside so far.

“I don’t think there has been a big difference from my experience than from those who lived on campus. I guess people on campus had to wear a mask while I didn’t when I was at home.”

Moving to the topic of masks, Schulte had a few thoughts on their effectiveness.

“I wasn’t big on masks. I’m not really sure they do a ton and were more of a hassle than anything else. I would always forget them and have to run back to my car and grab one before class.”

In the end, Schulte held a positive outlook on his first year at Morningside.

“I missed out on a few of the typical freshman experiences, but I was able to meet a lot of people through the football team. It was a great time.”