ABSTRACT
This chapter explores what can be learned about sense of belonging by examining the words of students who experienced the closures and disruption that occurred with COVID-19. Influence describes the ability of an individual to be influenced as well as to influence others. Students shared how faculty interaction influenced them related to their academic progress. The students also wrote about the importance of classroom peer interactions. Group membership needs to be reinforced through the level of conformity to the group, integration in the group, and the fulfilment of one’s needs within that group. The emotional connections are what sustain students through and long after their membership at the institution.
