STORRS, Conn. — A big week for Husky fans with UConn means gearing up to take on the Miami Hurricanes in Houston Saturday. It’s a long-time coming for thousands of students whose college experience has been far from normal during the pandemic.
“If you had told me last week that it would be the men in the Final Four and the women out in the Sweet 16, I would have said you were crazy,” said Senior Izadora Yarnall of Stonington, one of the hundreds of students participating in a day-long career fair inside Gampel Pavilion Tuesday.
Yarnall still remembers UConn men’s last trip to the Final Four in 2014 when she was just a kid watching television with her dad.
“We were just shouting at the TV, it was so exciting,” she said.
The college experience has been far from normal for seniors. Freshman year was traditional then enter 2020 and students were forced to mask, quarantine, and adapt to remote classes.
Now—they’re getting a glimpse of the magic from nine years ago with the men’s basketball team returning to the Final Four for the first time since snagging the national championship.
Senior Luke Tassielol of Orange says he’s been waiting for this moment since freshman year.
“I love the women,” Tassielol said. “I’m sorry that they lost but the men they’ve had not that much success in a tournament since 2014.”
Before Gampel Pavilion is taken over by 10,000 fans for a Saturday night watch party from Houston where UConn Men will take on the Miami Hurricanes, hundreds of students exercised their decorum Tuesday during one-on-one meet and greets with potential employers.
Wiley Dawson of UConn’s Center for Career Development says this class is more prepared for the unexpected. “They’ve been plunged into this online telecommuting experience so they’re coming in much more prepared to deal with the fluctuations of work and any modality.”
Sophomore Ramon ‘Ray’ Peters of Bristol says the uncertainty of the past few years is helping him prepare for his future. “I’m more comfortable being uncomfortable and because of that I’m able to adjust my schedule quickly and maybe jump into things without having all the knowledge or resources I need,” Peters said.
Students hope the same adaptability that’s propelling this unprecedented class into the workplace will carry the Men’s Basketball team all the way.
“It’s been a hard four years—especially the past few with COVID. But having the Men’s team doing good in March makes everything good,” said Senior Adam Stine.
Samaia Hernandez is a reporter for FOX61 News. She can be reached at shernandez@fox61.com. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
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