As this semester comes to an underwhelming close, whether you are a high school or college student, the question on everyone's minds is will we be back in the Fall? Nothing I am about to say is from any source or has any credibility, it is simply the thoughts that have been floating around in my head as I try to reconcile another semester away from my beloved second home.
As the headline suggests this will be an honest review of "ZoomU", so if I'm being honest, online learning kind of stinks. And if I'm being honest again, every single zoom call I've had for class this semester, I have done from my bed. So if that isn't a testament to the level of motivation I have while learning from home, I don't know what is. For me, I need the process of getting up, getting dressed, walking to class, and sitting at a desk to learn from a professor that is standing in front of me. For others, it may be different, or they may not care, but for me and many, the classroom and face-to-face interaction with peers and professors contribute greatly to my success, and I am currently without that and could be for a while. I can very clearly see the difference in my productivity. I procrastinate more; I get side-tracked more and distracted easily; I am more tired, even though my days consist of nothing. With demanding course work, extracurricular commitments, a job, and a social life, I found myself to be lightyears more productive on campus than I am at home with absolutely nothing to do. And that is a problem. So overall, I commend the Universities around the country for attempting to mimic the classroom setting, however, I think many would agree that it was not an overwhelming success. I understand that it's better than canceling the semester entirely, but also how bad would that really be in comparison? This question now brings me to what may lie ahead for Fall 2020.
Honestly, I'm one of those people that needs the whole college experience outside of just studying. I love the classes I am taking and the passions I am discovering along the way; I love interacting with and learning from amazing professors, but what makes it all worth it is getting to be a real college student. Real college students outside of their studies go out and socialize, cheer for their sports team, get involved in clubs and greek life. Understandably, none of this is feasible during a global pandemic, but none of it is feasible with online learning either. If we were to go online again for Fall 2020, students would miss an entire year of their college experience, and as a college student, that's not okay with me. Not only do I not want to take another semester of my courses online, but I don't want to have to pay for another semester online. The value of the on-campus and in-person education I am getting at school is worth every penny. But the supposedly "almost identical" education I would be getting at home and online is not nearly worth the same.
So again, if I'm being completely honest, I would rather have them cancel the Fall 2020 semester than go online again because I'm not willing to sacrifice my college experience or my education. And it appears to me that the "solution" of going online is forcing me to sacrifice both.
