22 Miles and Virtual Learning Experiences Separate Oxnard and Thousand Oaks College Students
By: Jazmin Navarrete and Justo Marquez Jr.
Oxnard native Bryan Rodriguez sits at his desk writing detailed plans for his schedule with work and school work due to the transition to virtual instruction not being the best environment for him. It has created a great amount of stress and has led him to create a strict schedule for himself to allow him time to work and complete schoolwork, as well as time to study and make sure he’s learning what he’s supposed to. Then we have Javier Garcia, just 22 miles south in Thousand Oaks, who seems to be having a more relaxed experience. Having already gone through his undergraduate studies, and now in graduate school, virtual learning didn’t faze him, and believes his online classes are easy to complete from home.
The city of Oxnard is a predominantly Latino and Hispanic community, making up 73% of the population. While the neighboring city of Thousand Oaks is the opposite, being 68% white. These two Ventura County cities couldn’t be more different. Thousand Oaks residents have an average income of just over $52,000, but on the other side you have Oxnard, a low-income community, where the income level is lower at $25,000. This adds financial pressure to students in Oxnard trying to pursue higher education, with only 20% of the population having a Bachelor’s degree or higher, while in Thousand Oaks, that number doubles to 55%. It may not be as noticeable all the time, but during a pandemic where all resources are on display, it becomes a lot more visible. Now students in these two cities, who have had to rely on their immediate resources for online schooling, seem to be having very different experiences.
Here is a little more depth about their experiences:
Oxnard Students:
Leslie Madrigal struggled with the transition to virtual learning. The biggest struggle for her was adjusting to teaching herself and feeling like she was doing more work than in person. She also lacks the space in her home due to having to leave her campus dorm and retail job and move back home because of the pandemic. It has been overwhelming for her and caused her more stress.
For Gabriela Ortiz the pandemic came with a lot of struggles. For starters, virtual learning was hard on her because she could not find herself succeeding with online learning, as she learns better in person, and doing everything at home through a screen is not the best environment for her. She also struggled financially these past few months, as she couldn’t work and her parent’s were working very little. It caused her depression to worsen.
Thousand Oaks Students:
The first thing Richard Mendoza pointed out was the amount of gas and money he was saving not having to commute to school due to virtual instruction. School has been the least of his concerns as he finds that it has been easy for him to transition to virtual learning and is able to complete his work and have passing grades, especially without the need to attend his zoom classes or pay attention
Noah Chess has had it somewhat easy over the course of virtual learning due to the pandemic. He has been able to save money and time by not needing to commute to school. Although he doesn’t like online classes and finds it hard to concentrate in class, he is a senior and is trying to make it to graduation, so he is able to get by. He would prefer to be in-person because he can’t sit on zoom for hours at a time.
These two neighboring communities aren’t separated by just distance. The differences in how college students in both communities have been affected by virtual learning has been shown above. The pandemic has caused a shift for college students everywhere and the effects are different for each one of them, but they are pushing through and continuing with their education.
