COVID-19 REFLECTIONS: Pick your "hard"
The biggest test students are about to face yet: Survival of COVID-19®. We students have more room to fail right now and that’s not even including actual course work difficulties. What odds are we up against? Well, they are still rather 50/50 despite it feeling otherwise. I say this because of a quote I’ve read recently, “Struggling is hard. Achieving your goals is hard. Pick your hard”. That there sounds very “50/50” to me.
The betacoronavirus disease, COVID-19 for short, is a virus that is affecting the respiratory system of its victims and possibly killing them, which is becoming more frequent that we care to acknowledge. It has turned into a pandemic that is surely bringing fear and uncertainty across the world. The virus is a huge concern but for those of us who have not contracted it, it’s the precautions that are taking the biggest toll on us. This is where student troubles come in at.
When this all started a lot of colleges were on spring break and then abruptly told that classes would not be resuming just yet for our safety. Social distancing has caused universities to cease all gatherings and in-person contact. Subsequently, some students living on campus have been displaced and a great majority of them have made their courses for the semester online. For some, this is exactly what they needed to be more successful. For others, this is a nightmare.
I personally have never signed up for an online class because I do not possess the discipline to stay on task and manage my time if there are no in-person meetings. I am also way too inquisitive of an individual to be comfortable being limited to how intimate my class setting may be; there is truly something prized about raising your hand for impulsive questions versus typing a laundry list of questions in an email and its follow up questions. This rings true for my peers across the world. Focus and discipline are issues for us in this time.
With classes being virtual (video) via “zoom”, we have an abundance of time on our hands. Online courses affect our time management, engagement/ motivation, eating/ sleeping habits, productivity, graduation dates and mental health to name a few. With virtual lectures being optional for some, “optional” doesn’t take a high priority in such a time- students are missing lectures. What isn’t optional here are the assignments and if you aren’t good at managing your time and keeping up with dates, then points and grades can easily slip away from students. The motivation to keep up with online classes is at an all-time low as well. Some students’ busy schedules have calmed because of all this and they are taking the to time to care for themselves rather than keep class as a stressor for them. Due dates have moved farther away, and the urgency in their work ethic has been lost. A lot of students are classified as “physical’ or “social” learners. Taking away in-person meetings are affecting the amount of material that can be learned (and learned alone to make matters worse). Loss of routine has caused sleeping schedules to be broken and eating habits to be laxer than our heath can afford at this time.
Imagine being a displaced student and still have it expected of you to succeed during this pandemic for grades that will make or break your transcript.
Imagine losing your job because it is nonessential and being expected to give priority to coursework while not knowing if your landlord will pardon your rent or if you will have enough to feed your family. Imagine being the only one in the household with an essential job, having the weight of caring for yourself/family and still be expected to succeed this semester. Imagine not having a computer because you used one at the library every day and they are all closed now. Imagine fighting to live in the dorms for fear of home life and now you must return to a home that is unsafe or non conducive to your success. Imagine having too much time on your hands to fall into depression (or a deeper one) or self-harm. Imagine having too much time to think so you are sleeping to shut the noise off and subsequently declining your progress. Imagine having to drop out of courses and still expected to pay off your tuition bill. Imagine coming so close to graduating and it’s been pushed back a semester. Imagine catching this virus without healthcare and the medical bills still being expected to be paid or the lack of medical attention sought out for the same reason.
I could continue this rant, but we don’t have all day. The question is, now what? Even the government is fickle about what information is true or should be shared. I feel we may have more problems than solutions. There are a few tips for students I will suggest that I think are most important (without repeating everything that’s circulating). Nonetheless, now more than ever, it will be so much easier said than done. For starters, limit your consumption of the news about this pandemic.
This is not an ode to “ignorance is bliss” but a testament to “that was enough for now”.
Amongst that, take your classes and only work on one subject/course a day. Try not to do a bunch of different subjects a day because the jumping around will overwhelm you. Take one subject and work at your pace throughout the day or maybe even just the mornings. Which leads me to my next point, give yourself credit for all the steps you’re actively taking to make progress. That may be something as small as doing your hair really nice for yourself because looking better helps you feel better thus, improving motivation. Lastly, I would suggest getting due dates and tasks onto sticky notes as it helps when you can physically touch all those thoughts floating in your head. It’s also more satisfying to remove the stickies once something has been accomplished.
What you are reading is my input into the time capsule. There are so many perspectives to look at this with: the elderly, the incarcerated, the undocumented, the healthcare workers, the homeless, etc. In the future when they ask what happened to us students during COVID-19, this will be one of many pieces they reflect on.