UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The return of college students to campus has sparked a nationwide discussion on whether it’s safe to resume on-campus learning. Many feared that the coronavirus would have a high chance of spreading due to off-campus partying.

Penn State announced that an additional 249 students tested positive between Sept. 11 and Sept. 17, increasing the campus-wide total to 1,666 cases.

So, what is it like to test positive for COVID-19 while attending classes at Penn State?

“It was pretty boring,” Robert Britto, a junior majoring in film/production said. “It was overall a boring experience.”

Britto tested positive back on Sept. 5 and has since been out of State College completely. He’s been quarantined at his family’s summer house on the Jersey Shore.

He explained how Penn State decides what quarantining options to offer to students who test positive. A lot that goes into this decision is if a student is asymptomatic, like Britto.

“If you don't have symptoms, I don’t think they force you into the Nittany Lion Inn or University Terrace,” Britto said. “They just said, ‘You have it, you don’t have symptoms, but you still have to quarantine.’”

After going through this experience, he feels that the school protocols for the virus have been average.

“I came back to campus accepting the risk that I could get it,” Britto said. “As best as you can handle a pandemic… I’d say Penn State has done what they could do.”

Mitch Broder is a junior majoring in digital/print journalism. To contact him, email mub584@psu.edu.