The start of the 2020 academic year was like no other, especially for freshmen.

There were no nervous handshakes nor greetings when meeting new classmates, nor exciting long walks in busy campus corridors and new classrooms.

With the COVID-19 pandemic disrupting face-to-face learning, this generation of freshmen has to turn to Zoom, Google Meet and other video conferencing platforms to start their first weeks at university.

Indonesia has more than 4,000 state and private universities, with 98 percent of them applying distance learning during the health crisis, according to the Education and Culture Ministry.

Yusri Hadi Nandika, 17, a freshman at the University of Indonesia, said he cried out of joy after receiving notification of his acceptance to the international relations program at the University of Indonesia in Jakarta in mid-August.

His new life as a freshman began two weeks later from his bedroom in Kendari, Southeast Sulawesi. Yusri has still not been to his campus.

He is holed up in his bedroom, facing his laptop, listening to his lectures and taking notes. His laptop screen was filled with the faces of friends he had never met in real life, he said.

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