FGCU senior one of lonely few still living on campus says she’s ‘rolling with the punches’

Quiet. That’s how FGCU senior Sorena Vargas describes the campus.

“Very calm. Literally there is nobody,” she said.

She is one of a handful of students still living on campus weeks after the university transitioned to e-learning only.

“I didn’t really have a choice. I don’t really have anywhere else to go right now,” she said.

It’s one thing to live basically alone on an empty campus.

“I’m living by myself right now in a three-bedroom apartment, so it’s been kind of lonely, but it’s been safe,” she said.

Safe, but shaken when she learned three students tested positive for COVID-19.

“It’s definitely scary, obviously, but I think it was almost inevitable that it was going to happen,” she said.

Vargas says her biggest fear right now is finding a job.

“One day I will feel very confident and then the next I’ll just feel like I need to apply to 10 million places,” she explained.

Graduation will go on as scheduled May 3, but no one will walk. It will be a virtual ceremony. Another change Vargas has no choice but to handle.

“This is not an FGCU thing, it’s not a Florida thing, it’s not even a US thing, it’s a literally worldwide,” she said.

Her wish for the future—that normal life returns to this empty campus sooner than later. Her advice for fellow students missing graduation and looking for work—roll with the punches.