Freshman Spotlight
Ryan Madison:What are you interested in studying at SLU? Major(s)? Career Aspirations? Dream job?
Luke Lundy: The plan is to major in history for education. Aspiring teacher for high school, and then maybe move on to being a professor at university.
May Butunoi: I’d like to major in neuroscience. I’d like to be a psychiatrist.
R.M.: What are you involved with on campus?
L.L.: Myths and Monsters FYP, Men’s Club Hockey, Coed Club Soccer, Ultimate Frisbee
M.B.: Myths and Monsters FYP, Ultimate Frisbee [sometimes], Club Volleyball, The Outing Club, The Mushroom Club
R.M.: Are you looking forward to the rest of this year? Why?
L.L.: I’m excited. I know that this semester is probably going to be the worst one with COVID. I’m hoping by next semester that things will be less restricted. Hopefully things turn out more normal going into next year.
M.B.: Yeah, I’m looking forward to continuing with my classes. I’m pretty interested in the things I’m learning about. Definitely to participate in more clubs and meet more people and living here.
R.M.: What did you expect from coming to campus amid COVID? What did you not expect?
L.L.: I expected things to be like this because, y’know, they want to keep everyone as safe as possible, but what I didn’t expect is that it would go so well. We haven’t had any active cases on campus for the past few weeks.
M.B: I’m really glad that I actually get to be here on campus as opposed to being online because that would be an absolute nightmare. I think, honestly, I didn’t expect that we would have an active [COVID-19] case number of zero. Very pleasantly surprised by that. As for restrictions and stuff like that, it’s pretty much what I expected.
R.M.: What are you most disappointed by so far this semester?
L.L.: The COVID restrictions. Even though I expected it I’m still disappointed that it’s still going on, you know?
M.B: I would say the fact that I have been unable to meet as many people as I would have [without restrictions]. Although I’m not the biggest extrovert, it is one of those things you want when you go to college and there’s so many people that I’ve never met.
R.M.: Favorite part of your first semester so far?
L.L.: In general, making new friends and meeting new people has definitely been the best part. I didn’t expect to make so many friends so quickly, coming from a small school. I thought that it was going to be a lot harder, but no it’s been a lot of fun.
M.B.: Playing Manhunt with people on my floor last Friday.
R.M.: What do you think about the Laurentian Pact?
L.L: At first, I thought it was like ‘Wow, they’re really clamping down on this. This is not fun.’ But now we’re seeing the results; it’s working. People are listening for the most part, obviously. We’re not dealing with positive cases, so I guess I like it. If we’re not being sent home, we’re good.
M.B.: I would say that I think that it makes sense that it’s there, and I think it’s doing its job for the most part. I mean I think we all kind of know that there are plenty of ways to bend the rules without getting caught, and that doesn’t seem to have caused any problems so I think ultimately it’s all good.
R.M.: How do you feel about the way students are handling the COVID restrictions?
L.L.: During those first couple days, like remember when we were hearing about the big groups gathering outside Rebert? I thought ‘Oh, great, we’re gonna get sent home ‘cause of this.’ But nothing’s come out of it, so I guess they were being safe about it. It definitely has died down. I haven’t heard as much about big groups gathering and from what I’ve been when I’m out late at night it is in like smaller groups; like clusters. It’s good to know that other people are worried about their safety too, and they’re not being stupid.
M.B.: Like I said, there’s a decent amount of bending the rules, but I think a lot of it is done in such a way that people aren’t being horribly reckless. You see a lot of people just hanging out without masks at night or in the evening, but I do a lot of staying inside.
L.M.: If you could give any advice to our fellow freshman class of 2020, what would it be?
L.L.: Over quarantine I was selected to be an Academic All Star for the news in Watertown. They asked me to give an inspiring message to other kids in quarantine struggling with schoolwork and stuff. My thing was just like, don’t let it get you down, y’know, this is only a small moment in time, and you just gotta keep your head up and get through it ‘cause it’ll be over sometime.
M.B.: Try to make the best of whatever your situation may be, try to find the positives.
L.M.: How do you feel about your classes/professors this year?
L.L.: The classes I ended up with are all pretty similar, so this semester has been like one long-ass english class. Learning [online] is interesting, but it is just a bit taxing sometimes. It’d be different if we were in the classroom.
M.B.: I’m enjoying them quite a lot. I will say that I wasn’t expecting my FYP to be as much of an english class, but I do like the subject and my teacher is cool. Generally pretty good.
L.M.: What’s one thing that you can’t wait to experience once things get more or less back to normal?
L.L.: Just being able to go into people’s dorms and hangout. They’re supposed to say at the end of the four weeks that they’re gonna reevaluate [The Laurentian Pact]. I heard there was an NHL tournament that [INTERVIEWER’s roommate] Drew was telling me about. It’s a big opportunity missed ‘cause I’m really good at NHL.
M.B.: Actually, I’d love to go back up to Montreal again and hangout in Canada.