California Students Get Creative with Virtual College
After losing her job in San Diego and having to move out of her apartment due to COVID-19, 21-year-old Paso Robles native, Jennifer Contreras, has had to begin her first year of university from a town she has outgrown, in a home that has outgrown her.
Most colleges have transitioned to an online format, taking away school amenities, sports, and gatherings, among so many other things. But, college students have adjusted. From virtual dance groups to Zoom escape rooms, college students are finding new ways to socialize and celebrate online. Some have yet to take to COVID-19 regulations though, with 81% of students surveyed witnessing other students taking part in some form of in-person socialization. Here’s how students from across California are finding ways to cope with their new education system.
Most of the students interviewed about their semester are just beginning college so, not only was their high school graduation online but so is their first year of university. The disappointment they feel is overwhelming but there is some hope left among them.
The difficult switch from high school to college is intensified by the complications of Zoom learning. First-year College of the Canyons student, Lena Kaylor, said: “I’m an extrovert and do my best work through physical learning situations.”
Without school sports, events, or facilities to use, students are feeling the distance (no pun intended) from their colleges. But, students are taking advantage of what they can in this situation.
Jennifer Contreras, a freshman at San Jose State University, has struggled through her first year of online classes but found some silver linings. Scheduled Zooms gave her the opportunity to work and spend time with her family in between.
As far as socialization goes, homework group chats proved to be a source of personal connection that a statewide quarantine tends to lack. Being back in her hometown even prompted “high school friendships to be revived,” Contreras noted.
Students who live on campus are having their own challenges. Goodbye dorm parties, hello weekly COVID-19 testing. Campuses like UC San Diego aren’t taking risks when it comes to student health. If you plan on staying at school like freshman Cecilia Adame, get ready for some Zoom hangouts and Netflix binges.
On the bright side, online classes have given her the availability to go home when she wants to visit her family and fiancé who just proposed last week. Love survives a pandemic, after all.
CSUN student Juliet Vo found herself transitioning into her second year of CSUN online and at home. Vo, being the vibrant extrovert she is, has made a point of staying in all the programs she started her CSUN career with, online.
A screen is not a limiting factor in her mind, just a different way of socializing. Being a Deaf Studies major, Vo has familiarized herself with different ways of communicating and this pandemic is an opportunity to expand that endeavor. I think we all have something to gain from the kind of optimism it takes to see this situation as just another adventure.
It’s clear 2020 has brought on the challenges when it comes to distanced learning, but students are just getting started with ideas to improve it. As the months pass, a large number of students are getting restless rather than accustomed. Here’s to hoping the situation bends before it breaks.
Student-Suggested Potential Ways To Improve Online School:
- School support and promotion of online clubs and opportunities.
- Tuition cuts to match the amenities being taken away.
- Socially-distanced outdoor or online meditation programs.
- Providing additional online resources (internet connection, laptop loaners, software downloads, workout equipment).
- Make online learning more flexible to fit student work-home life (late work exceptions, Zoom meeting make-ups or recordings).
