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and protocols were shifting to allow for greater social interaction as the pandemic was
more or less managed. That constant change proved challenging for most participants.
As Markus, a White second-year student, said, " If [men] are supposedly good at black
and white and all you give us is gray, then life gets pretty hard for some guys. " Jesus, a
Latino third-year student, added,
One thing I associate with men is being adaptable, like you should know how to change
and adjust to whatever life throws at you. But when it's all new every day and you don't
even know what you're supposed to be doing or how you should be acting, it's stressful.
The ambiguity associated with constant change was felt in the residence halls. Several
men expressed frustration that they could never feel confident or comfortable in their
residence hall, the place where they expected to be the most relaxed. Eric, a White
second-year student, said,
I feel like [men] should be better at just going with the flow with changes in the dorms, but
it was honestly really . . . rough. True or not, [men] are supposed to be low maintenance,
but I feel like guys in my [residence] hall were constantly pissed off about rules.
Antoine, a Black second-year student, noted, " It feels like my freshman year for a second
time. Every day is like learning a new campus environment . . . I feel like I'm living
in a freshmen dorm all over again, like it's constantly my first day at college. " Daniel, a
Black second-year student, had a similar perception about his sophomore year.
It's weird to say I was nervous about what my dorm would be like . . . Showing up for the
first day of my sophomore year felt a lot like the first day [of my first year]. It's like I didn't
know what to expect, but it wasn't my first time this time, obviously.
When asked to elaborate on the comparison between the previous year and the
current year, participants expressed optimism, though they acknowledged the deficit
created by restrictions over the previous 18 months. Taylor, a White third-year student,
explained, " I for sure feel like guys are behind [socially and behaviorally]. We're always
told we mature more slowly than girls anyway, and then it's like we don't even have a
shot right now because nothing feels like it should. " Ahmad, a Black second-year student,
agreed, saying, " You feel behind socially, and you're panicking like you're behind
in class but it's more pervasive. " Ty, a White second-year student, expressed his version
of feeling behind socially.
It's hard to think of us as all together again. Some of us have never had that, so what does
it even mean? I feel like we don't know how to function or even fit in [socially] unless we're
told exactly what to do and how to do it.
The role of residence hall programming and interactions with paraprofessional
staff were explored, shedding light on the complexity of living communally during a
pandemic. Tommy, an Asian American third-year student, said that his RA " is a great
Volume 49, No. 2 * 2023 37

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