As the "most unusual" college semester ever ends, a group of students at Quinnipiac University surprised their professor with a gesture.

Quinnipiac University freshman Nina Pezzello, of Waterford, had to take her Sociology 101 class via Zoom this semester. It wasn't the start to college she envisioned, but Professor Cathy Solomon made it one she'll never forget.

"She made us have our cameras on which forced us to talk and know each other, even though it was over Zoom, as hard as that can be," Pezzello said. "She always made our class super interactive. We never felt like we couldn't ask a question."

One day, she and her classmates turned their cameras off to thank her for making them turn them on.

"Can you imagine having a class like this were everybody's cameras are off?" she said.

More than 30 students showed off their thank you signs for Solomon. She's been a sociology professor at Quinnipiac for 16 years.

"I was really nervous teaching through Zoom because I like to connect with students, but I've taken away that you can connect with students through zoom if cameras are on," Solomon says.

Pezzelo says not only did she connect with Solomon through her class, her virtual classmates became real friends.

"She impacted us in ways you don't think a professor to impact you," she says. "We are all just very excited to hopefully one day be able to meet her."