AUCians on the First Week Back to Campus

By: Maya Abouelnasr
@EmEn1125 

Following a year-and-a-half of online instruction, it’s no surprise that the AUC New Cairo campus burst back to life as students, faculty and staff resumed face-to-face classes. 

English and Comparative Literature graduating senior Fatima Ahmed said that she had been looking forward to being around people on campus again.

“Most of my friends have already graduated, but I’m really excited to return and see some familiar faces,” she said.

In early March 2021, a month into the spring semester, some courses began to meet on campus as part of the partial face-to-face teaching modality. This was cut short in mid-April as a result of rising COVID cases nationwide and among members of the AUC community, with many begrudgingly resorting to Zoom classes again. 

That made the full return to campus this fall feel more real and added to Ahmed’s excitement.

“I’m just going to make the most of it [returning to campus] because as a graduating senior, I might not be able to access campus again [this semester] if we go back online,” Ahmed added.

The social element of the university experience was evidently missed by most. 

Throught the first week, students – masked and unmasked – could be seen socializing in the lush gardens near L’Aroma, while sitting on the steps and walls of various buildings and while waiting in long, often crowded queues at Cilantro.

Friends and old acquaintances reunited, with exclamations of “I’ve missed you!”, “Hi! How are you?!” and a desire to hug being frequently expressed.

Another aspect of the university that may have been missed was the familiar sights of cats, butterflies, hoopoes and dragonflies in the gardens or sometimes in corridors.

“One thing that made me happy,” said Mechanical Engineering senior Aliaa Moussa, “was that I saw many cats at the bus entrance waiting to be pet or fed.”

She added that spending time with friends during a long gap between classes was the highlight of her day, but noted that social distancing affected the usual excitement of the experience.   

“I ran into a friend I hadn’t seen in two years and couldn’t even shake her hand, and with all of us wearing masks, the reunion felt distant somehow,” Moussa said.

Architecture graduating senior Tootaa Saleh explained that alongside being worried about the Delta variant, she was unsure of what to expect.

“I went to campus twice last semester [for partial face-to-face courses]. That was face-to-face and it was really boring and so empty. It just wasn’t the university we all knew,” Saleh recalled.

She added that a big part of the architecture major involves staying late on campus with peers and working together in teams on the ground, which she is glad she can experience again before graduating.

Still, for some students, the return to campus was overshadowed by coronavirus concerns. 

Business in Marketing sophomore Mayada Elhusseiny, who began her AUC experience in Fall 2020, said that though she initially felt nervous about being on campus for the first time.

She added that speaking to and being around many people made her feel as though she was out of her comfort zone at the start of the day, especially due to her worries regarding the ongoing pandemic.

“I was and still am really worried about the safety because of COVID. It [being around several people] hasn’t been something that’s normal. You forget that it’s normal to be around so many people,” Elhusseiny commented.

However, as the days wore on, those feelings were soon replaced by excitement.

“I never imagined that I would actually enjoy [returning to campus] that much,” Elhusseiny said.

Undeclared freshman Amina Elbaz was excited to start a new stage in her life, but also felt nervous about coming to campus because of the unfamiliar environment.

“I didn’t know anything. I didn’t know how the system worked and that’s still confusing me. I’m also trying to find out where everything is so I don’t get lost,” Elbaz said.

She added that she is most excited about the fact that AUC has a variety of student clubs that she plans on learning more about in order to meet new people with similar interests.

Walking through the library, one could spot dozens of students already studying and making use of its facilities.

Library Supervisor in the Administration Building Mohamed Nabil told The Caravan that he and his team had been working for the past three months to ensure the library is as safe as possible for students.

“We are in the public service and so, we missed our students,” Nabil said.

He added that he is personally glad to be back on campus.

“I missed working every day and seeing my colleagues. It feels a bit like being back to normal life.”