College classes are back in session around the country, or at least something that resembles them. At Purdue University, for instance, officials spent the summer installing five miles of plexiglass barriers in classrooms and other spaces on campus. They bought a million face masks. And they touted the "Protect Purdue Pledge" that everyone had to agree to.

On this podcast, several professors and students describe their classes during the first week of this pandemic semester.

Students at Richmond Hill, a public high school in central Queens, don’t come from privileged backgrounds. They are mostly immigrants or the children of immigrants. Eighty-two percent of them meet the federal definition of economic disadvantage, and 22 percent speak a language other than English at home. 

Bianca Argueta, a Richmond Hill graduate, aspired for something more when it came to college. Then the pandemic happened.