Bailie Grace
As Anna Holt, a Nursing major, begins to prepare for her morning classes, instead of worrying about being late due to traffic or sleeping through her alarm, she has to worry about having a strong internet connection and making sure that there are no distractions in her house.
Many students that went back to school this fall are learning virtually and those who chose to take traditional courses have to wear a mask at all times, stay six feet apart from everyone, and have their temperature checked every day. These are just some of the ways The Coronavirus (COVID-19) has impacted everyone’s way of life since February.
No one seemed to have thought that going back to school this fall would still be such a challenge. Everyone is learning how to handle it in their own way while also figuring out how to still live life through this global pandemic.
Anna Holt, current student at CCBC, has been going through this school semester in-person as she is a Nursing major. Holt talked about the differences between this school semester from last, and how she is handling it. She started by talking about how this semester was different and what CCBC did to ensure the students safety.
“When I pull onto campus there is someone waiting at the parking lot to take my temperature before I go into the building.” Holt went on to say, “I am taking microbiology in person and I like that because I am able to ask the professor questions if I have any during the lecture.”
Holt then went on to talk about how the classroom environment was different from previous semesters. “Since we cannot distance the desk six feet apart, we have to wear our mask and face shields before entering the classroom and we need to wash our hands right when we walk in and put gloves on immediately after.”
Another CCBC Student, Abbey Bulla, is taking a combination of both in-person and online courses. She is a Music major and is focusing on the technology that happens behind the scenes at music recordings and theater shows. Bulla first spoke about her in-person classes and how Essex is taking precautionary measures. Bulla said, “Essex (Campus) is very good at making sure that everything is very clean for the students. I feel like I do not need to worry about anything not being clean since they clean before and after every class in that room.”
Bulla then spoke about online classes and how she is adapting to them. “I usually try to avoid online classes since I am a visual learner, but with Corona not all of my classes are offered in person.”
Bulla then elaborated on how she has been adapting to online classes and how she gets the work done. “Online classes are not my favorite, but what’s done is done. It is difficult to stay focused and getting used to the workload, but I will get used to it sooner or later.”
Tori Myers, a Business major who is fully online this semester, is a second-year student at CCBC. This is the first semester where she is not on campus. She spoke about how online classes are much different than face to face and how she is adapting.
“Online is much different than in person and that is something that I need to get used to as the semester goes on. Online classes have definitely been difficult, but I have thought of some ways to keep focus on my classes. I start by making sure that I do not have many distractions and I make sure I write down all of my class times so that I do not miss any classes.”
Myers then went on to talk about the changes she had made for this semester to make sure that she did just as good as if she was in a traditional class.
The Coronavirus definitely took the world by storm making everyone in the world have to adapt to the “new norm” of staying six feet apart, wearing a mask in public, and constantly washing your hands and keeping everything clean.
Only time will tell how colleges and students across the country will continue to adapt to this ever-changing global situation.
If you need assistance navigating your online classes feel free to contact The Student Life Office at: studentlifeleadership@ccbcmd.edu. Provide your name, major, phone number, email, and general questions and a Student Life Ambassador will contact you.
I’m an ASL 1 student taking classes online via zoom. I’m currently finding it rather difficult because a) it’s not always easy seeing what the instructor is signing, and b) I’m an older student and I’m having to learn all these new fandangle computer programs. ASL has a parameter for signing, waist to head and shoulder to shoulder. When using zoom effectively, a person can not be far enough back from the camera to effectively sign, and see what is on the computer screen. So most of the time it is hard to see the instructors hands. Think of it as learning to throw a pot via the internet, or trying to paint a picture in the dark.
This semester has definitely been challenging for many students, including myself. I feel as though there is much more school work because professors are trying to make up for not being in class. The one good thing about it is the flexibility though. Everyone seems to be handling it well because we are more prepared than we were last semester.
I too did not imagine that this Fall Semester would be so difficult. I remember in February when Covid-19 was really started to make its presence known in the states. All classes were haphazardly thrown online the tail end of the semester, but I was still able to end up doing well because my grades were good going into the switch. This time, during the Fall Semester, there was no switch, and I’ve found myself struggling throughout its entirety. Like Anna Holt, I have to do my best to limit distractions while in my online class. But that can be difficult when you have siblings running around the house, or your parents don’t respect you while you are in class. I think I’ve been able to become accustomed to online school as of late, but hope sometime in the future to return back to regular classes in person.
This semester has been challenging but through it all I think we all learned something about ourself and our strengths regarding adapting to new situations and schooling online which is made easier with remote learning.