Throughout the last full week of September, SNU’s Wi-Fi was down. While this seemed mostly like an inconvenience, many students found it brought a positive shift to campus culture. Students were no longer able to go back to their dorms and watch a movie after classes and practices ended; instead, they found new opportunities to explore and socialize around campus.
At lunch on Monday, Sept. 22, Chick-fil-A was unable to open because they needed their computers to take orders. Thus, most of the student body ate in the SNU cafeteria, where staff handwrote everyone’s student ID number. This brought students together in one room, allowing them the opportunity to make new friends while eating orange chicken and pasta bake.
The student body grew closer by getting through this shared challenge together. With online learning tools being unavailable, students got a small taste of what SNU was like before the internet became an essential part of classroom learning. Many professors had to adjust their lesson plans, relying primarily on lecturing instead of using videos and other teaching methods that require the internet.
International business major Cosette Barret reflected on her week without internet as a surprisingly positive experience, with minor inconveniences like only being able to do assignments when she got home for the night. Some of her classes let out early, giving her the opportunity to go on walks around campus as fall began and to practice piano in Cantrell Music Hall. As campus became a more technology-free space, Barret tried new things, like playing pickleball with friends and getting to know others better. She described it as “a positive for the social life of campus.” She noticed more people coming out of their rooms to socialize, with many having fun together in Crimson Corner. She exclaimed, “Campus felt more alive than ever!”
The effects of the internet outage reached nearly every corner of campus. With students unable to print and professors having to pivot some lesson plans, this brought extended time for students to get to know one another and rest between canceled parts of classes. Times that would have been spent independently using the internet or social media were instead spent with other students in Webster Commons, R.T. Williams Learning Resource Center, Starbucks, or outside on the SNU tennis and pickleball courts.
The internet was sparse throughout the Bethany area, with SNU’s neighboring college, Southwestern Christian University, having internet problems throughout the same week. Even without Wi-Fi, SNU students found different ways to stay connected, proving that campus life is about more than just the internet.
Photo by: Trynitie Krout