February 7, 2025/Midnight
Erie, PA— Gannon University is home to over 2,000 students at any given time of year. Within this student body, a variety of different people exist. We are united though our pursuit of education at Gannon University. However, our differences may lie in our ages, career choices, races, faiths, or a plethora of other things. In every aspect that we are different, there is one where we are similar. In RoundTable, we explore the similarities and differences in the thoughts and opinions of Gannon students.
Loneliness is commonly targeted as one of the rising problems young people are facing. While the numbers were higher during the COVID pandemic, Gallup reports that in 2023, 17 percent of young adults said they felt ‘lonely yesterday’, indicating an estimated population of over 40 million Americans who identify themselves as seriously lonely.
This week, three Gannon students were asked if they considered themselves to be lonely.
Alana Newsome, a first year studying criminal justice, says, “I would, but in a good way.”
Newsome explains that while the transition to university was hard on her, she has since started to enjoy finding solitude on campus. “I started coming here more, and started finding like, chill spot areas to study and everything, it kind of made me enjoy being lonely now. Like, I enjoy it because I can learn more about myself more and more.”
She also says that while she believes loneliness is a big problem that people face today, she says, “I think it’s a big problem because people take it the wrong way. I feel like people think just because they’re not going out partying or doing this, doing that, that means they’re lonely. But really, no, you’re just having some me time, and there’s nothing wrong with me time.”
Sophomore criminal justice major, Anjeela Adhikari, explains her perspective on loneliness, and how it ties in with her experience as an international student.
She says, “Being an international student, it’s like, loneliness is the most horrible thing for us, because we are so far from our home country…I think, even though I have so many friends, I am still lonely. We are lonely.”
Fnu Hajira, a first year studying computer science, agrees with Adhikari’s perspective.
“We [international students] do have friends around us, and we do have people that we enjoy a lot. But still, we are lonely. We do enjoy to vibe with our friends, and social media, of course. That’s our friends these days. But still, we are lonely when we see social media videos-memories from the past.”
Hajira explains that social media has helped her to combat feelings of loneliness and homesickness. “It also helps us to, you know, forget our worries, if we’re missing our home I just scroll through social media.”
While loneliness is a pervasive issue facing many people, especially young people, rates of loneliness have been steadily in decline since the COVID pandemic.
