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Standing outside University Suites, where columns of red, white and River Hawk blue balloons welcomed residents on move-in weekend, first-year student Emma Lee came to a strange realization: She felt like she was re-learning how to socialize with people.

“It’s weird. We’ve been so isolated because of COVID, and all of a sudden I’m with a bunch of new people, which is interesting — and cool,” said Lee, a psychology major and Honors College student from Salem, Massachusetts.

There’s always a buzz of excitement in the air when students move to campus each fall. But this year’s arrival of 3,800 residential students included the added euphoria of escaping 18 months of pandemic-induced social isolation and remote learning on Zoom.

An hour after moving into their Donahue Hall suite on North Campus, first-year students Adam Zecher and Max Valin were checking out the festive move-in scene in front of Fox Hall, where DJs from student-run radio station WUML (91.5 FM) provided the foot-tapping soundtrack.

“Being on campus and meeting people, that was a big thing for me,” Valin, a political science major from Salem, New Hampshire, said as the disco hit “Funkytown” blared from nearby speakers. “It’s a relief that we’re not confined to our dorms or anything like that.”

Like Valin, Zecher was sporting a brand new UML sweatshirt. 
 
“I was a little nervous, but everyone here seems super nice,” said the civil engineering major from North Reading, Massachusetts. “We’ve already met a ton of new people.” 

Inside the WUML tent, the station’s promotional director, junior computer engineering major Josh Palomares, happily watched students and their parents navigate rolling carts packed with dorm room essentials up and down the sidewalks.

“It’s great to see students,” said Palomares, a native of Milford, Massachusetts, as The Marvelettes’ “Please Mr. Postman” piped across Pawtucket Street. “After being online for the last year and a half, I’m so happy to be able to come back and have classes in person.”

A few blocks away at River Hawk Village, resident advisors Tonya Ngassa and Yankul Ceballos were helping students check into their new home for the next eight months. 

“There’s definitely a smile on everyone’s face just to be here,” said Ngassa, a junior business administration major from Worcester, Massachusetts. “There’s still the social distancing and masks, but we’re all here, and that’s the best part.”

Ceballos, a senior criminal justice major from Lawrence, Massachusetts, worked as an RA at Leitch Hall last spring, when about 1,100 students lived on campus during a hybrid of remote and in-person learning. He said the COVID protocols last semester were “tough but safe,” and he hopes students will be as careful as possible this year.

“Being back here and seeing everyone getting excited, it gets you excited,” he said.

Students, faculty and staff are currently required to wear face coverings in nearly all indoor common spaces, regardless of vaccination status.

Samantha Roche, a first-year business major from Leominster, Massachusetts, said that’s a “small price to pay” for the opportunity to be living and learning on campus.

“After finishing high school online last year, I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to start college in person. But here we are, even with the masks,” said Roche, who is living in the same residence hall, University Suites, as did her two older siblings: mechanical engineering alumnus Sean Roche ’20 and senior engineering major Shelley Roche.

Back outside University Suites, Emma Lee greeted one of her new suitemates, Kira Szilva, a first-year civil engineering major and fellow Honors College student from Quincy, Massachusetts.

How was Szilva feeling about being at UMass Lowell?

“It’s really cool. My roommates are awesome, everything is within walking distance, and I’m really excited to start my classes,” she said. “I really like it here.”