Between starring as Diana Silvers’s love interest in the instant classic Ma and menacing classmates in Hulu’s School Spirit, a Breakfast Club-style slasher, Corey Fogelmanis wasn’t missing a beat in the transition from child actor to full-fledged star. But then the 20-year-old decided to pause acting and focus on college in New York. “I want[ed] to have a better understanding of the world, how people and society operate, so that I could individually be a better person,” he explains.

One thing he’s learned: Actors are an unusually emotional breed. “I grew up on sets, where we talk about how we feel,” says Fogelmanis, a Girl Meets World regular from ’14 to ’17. “I’m learning not everyone is like that! And to think before I speak, so I don’t make people uncomfortable…”

Not that he’s only spent time in the rarefied company of actors. In light of the COVID-19 outbreak, his mind has drifted to his home in L.A.— and to his feathered friends there, in particular. “I feel like going home and petting my chickens,” he says. “They know our voices, so when we go into the backyard, they all come running. I miss them!”

If the said outbreak is an indication, Fogelmanis picked a good time to focus on life’s fundamentals. “To drop [acting] and move to New York…I know people were like ‘Okay, are you sure?’” he reflects. “I am [still] finding a balance, but my main priority is getting an education.”