Story by Bella Buck, Reporter
Photo courtesy of Valentina Garcia

Imagine writing an essay on your laptop during finals week. You’ve been at the library for hours, doing research and typing a paper on Google Docs. You go to refresh the page, and nothing happens. Suddenly, your stomach drops as you see that dreaded phrase appear on your screen: “There is no internet connection.”

The Wi-Fi has been disconnected for 20 minutes, but you haven’t noticed. Your four page essay is gone.

For Aquinas Freshman Grace Kelly, this was reality. How many times has this scenario happened to you?

First-year student Sara Forletta has had a similar experience. “Last semester I took an online class, and there were a few times when I started a quiz and couldn’t finish it because the Wi-Fi was out,” Forletta said.

While it has been an ongoing issue at Aquinas College, it seems that over the past two months many students have experienced blotchy internet reception.

“It [the Wi-Fi] would shut down while I was in the middle of typing an essay or taking an online quiz,” Kelly said. “There have been times when my classes were cancelled because of the Wi-Fi being down.”

For many, the lack of internet connection forces students to use cell phone data in order to keep up on emails, assignments or extracurriculars. “I’ve gone through data faster than ever since I got to AQ,” Kelly said.

Without a reliable internet connection, the frustrations of college life are amplified by the added stress of going over on a data plan.

“Aquinas’s Wi-Fi needs a significant update,” said Student Senator Mitch Rogowski. “We have been using a series of smaller fixes or ‘Band-Aids’ to keep it going over the past couple years.”

The band aids seem to be coming off one at a time. Luckily, President Quinn is taking a deeper look into the internet problems.

“He is currently looking into hiring more help for the IT department so they can work to overhaul our current Wi-Fi network,” Rogowski said. “He is looking to make a permanent long term fix to the Wi-Fi issues, not just keep temporarily fixing it.”

While there is no set date when the Wi-Fi will be fixed, Rogowski states that President Quinn wants students to know “their voices are heard and that he is doing everything he can to try and fix this issue.”