Hello beautiful people. This post is going to be a little different. It has nothing to do with culture, but it is still based on my perspective, as a student, on something that is happening at the moment. It’s been a while since I've been able to sit down and focus on writing. I’ve been able to sit down. I’ve been able to write. But, I haven’t been able to sit down, relax, and write about things that don’t revolve around academics. This is mostly due to the high stress that many college students, like myself, are under at the moment with the change in direction this year has taken. This is all due to the Coronavirus. The virus has affected everyone and everything, and I do not believe that my issues are the most important issues happening at the moment. I would still like to express my perspective on the challenges that I, and many college students, have faced since the danger of the Coronavirus increases.
I am currently sitting at my kitchen table instead of at my dorm room desk. My university, like many others across the nation, has closed for the rest of the semester. They have canceled in-person classes and have required us to move off of campus. There is no plan on resuming the ordinary schedule until next semester- in fall 2020. I know that this cancellation is in everyone's best interest, and I agree with the university's decision, but it does come with some ramifications.
Many college students, at some point in their life, have hoped, wished, and prayed for this moment to happen. That school would just stop. I know that I definitely did. The philosophy that came with that wish was that if the school shut down then the stress would stop. Boy, was I so wrong.
On March 9th at 5:00 pm, I received an email from the president of my university. He informed everyone that classes and other activities that day were canceled. The email also stated that all students had 24 hours to leave the campus and head back home. From my dorm room, you could hear the entire student body, from every crevice and corner of the campus, shouting out of happiness. We all had the same initial reaction, thank God spring break was coming a week early. Like I said before, boy was I SO wrong. After a day of relaxation, my email blew up. I received announcements regarding the work and exams that were still due. Of course, this was not a problem; I’m still enrolled as a university student.
But as the week progresses, it seems like the workload increases. Within the week, I have had three exams, over 20 assignments due, and it does not seem to be stopping. I still have work due even though it is technically my spring break this week. It seems as though professors have forgotten that us students need a break. Yes, we’re home. Yes, we’re technically supposed to be quarantined at home. But please, hear me out, us students need a mental break, maybe even more than a physical one. That is what spring break is for.
One thing that has also been a challenge is keeping up with courses that were not meant to be taken online. I am taking three very difficult courses this semester, two of which I was getting tutoring for. Chemistry being one of those courses. For me to really learn and understand the concepts of the courses, I need to be present and have the ability to ask questions the second I don’t understand something. An in-person lecture makes grasping topics such as chemistry and genetics much easier. Having to keep up with these types of classes online makes me extremely nervous. Tiffany Dufu, a speaker at a women’s conference I attended, told the audience that she used to feel anxious that she would let the ball drop one day. This meant that even though she was balancing work, her home life, her social life, and other extraneous factors, she felt that at any moment she would make a mistake and everything would fall apart. I feel as though I could drop the ball with these courses. But even then, I just have to keep reminding myself that academic help is accessible in all forms, and if I feel like I don’t understand something, I need to seek a solution like tutoring.
I know that I'm not the only student with these worries, which is why I wanted to write this post. There are students like me who are stressed over taking difficult courses online, there are student-athletes who have had their seasons ripped out from beneath them, there are students who had to leave their study abroad programs abruptly after being teased with an amazing opportunity, there are students who were in the middle of completing a graduation-required internship, and there are seniors who have worked incredibly hard to obtain a degree who cannot enjoy their last semester with their friends on campus or walk in a graduation ceremony.
To all the students reading this- we got this! To everyone who knows a student- let them know they got this. Stay safe. Stay healthy. Make sure you take care of the people most at risk for developing severe symptoms of the virus. Do something kind today. But most of all, stop buying all that toilet paper.
