How COVID 19 Led Me to KBTG — Ep.2 Online Learning
When I woke up, it was one minute before class started. Not wanting to be late, I ran as fast as I could in my pajamas from the edge of my bed all the way to my laptop opposite the room. The clicking sound of buttons as my fingers danced across the keyboard, followed by the frantic unwinding of earphones that have coiled into a vicious knot marked my entrance into the digital world. For two months, I stayed home and repeated the cycle of attending online classes early in the morning and late at night, while dedicating the rest of the day from noon till evening to studying and doing homework. Whether it’s the essays, readings, or class participation, my entire academic endeavor simply required one thing: the computer. The computer was the medium through which I talked with my friends and professors. It was where I did my presentations and performances. During the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, my educational experience became autonomous. My bedroom, the dining room, or the living room, I had the choice to study wherever I wanted. This feeling of liberation characterized my experience of the so-called New Normal. This was how my online learning began.
Online learning undeniably benefits education in various ways. It connects students from thousands of miles away together no matter where they are. Within a split second, it immediately transcends the boundary of physical distance, making classes adaptable to any location. It provides instantaneous access to information and communication like never before. We can tap into endless resources at the tips of our fingers. Online learning also enables class time to be flexible and not fixed to a strict schedule. Class meetings can be recorded for students to watch and study at their own pace without having to wake up at 3am just to attend class due to time zone differences. Educational growth is now under the students’ control. Learning becomes boundless, and anything, from short-term online courses to receiving an entire degree, can happen within the space of our home.
However, staring at a screen for the entire day is not the most exciting thing to do as a student. At one point it becomes monotonous and exhausting, where my head hurts and eyes become sore from the penetrating blinding light. The computer became the be-all and end-all of my academic experience. My life seemed to revolve around this single device. From the youthful dynamism of the university, a powerful assemblage of youth, roaring with energy and passion, to being stranded at home, sitting in front of a laptop. It felt like COVID-19 had physically confined me to this one machine. Those grand gatherings, being surrounded, supported, and cheered on by friends, were reduced to remote isolation. All of that color and sound…gone. Such a drastic change in lifestyle proved to be frustrating, maybe even depressing at times. Online learning undoubtedly provides comfort and a multitude of benefits. Yet, it felt like something was missing, something that computer technology can never replace: an authentic human interaction.
Online learning started to feel aimless, each day slowly passing by. I was only waiting for this New Normal to be over. The computer may increase the flexibility of learning, but perhaps it gives too much freedom to students. There is no longer a professor to monitor whether a student is studying hard, or check whether they are cheating in exams or not. Despite the great advantages of online learning, I found less motivation to study, and it was easy to lose focus in class. I worked at a lethargic pace, and soon found myself unable to keep up with assignments. Precisely because of this, I came to realize that online learning is a great test of honesty and sincerity. The student is on their own. By taking away circumstances and external factors such as praise or recognition, online learning brings students back to the fundamental question of what education truly means to each person.
Gradually, what online learning means to me began to change further. From something that was perceived as a thorn in the backside, a restraint that strips away enthusiasm, it taught me to take full responsibility for my own education. The New Normal puts me in the driver’s seat of my own learning. How many books will I read on my own? Even if my work does not get acknowledged, how much will I study? Will I wait for instructions from my professors? Or will I take self-initiated actions? Online learning overturns the idea that education can only happen in classrooms. It reduces education to the raw self. Education becomes intangible, not something to be measured by grades or scores. Students are challenged to think for themselves. When they are alone behind the scenes, away from the limelight, even if their efforts are quiet and unseen, what are they going to do as an individual?
In fact, some of the most significant achievements in human history happened during difficult times just like this. Isaac Newton is known for discovering gravity while in quarantine during the bubonic plague. Macbeth, one of Shakespeare’s greatest works, was also written while he was in quarantine during the bubonic plague. With this change of perspective, I was filled with excitement. A new door opened up and I saw endless possibilities lying ahead. Something becomes valuable only when you believe in it. I started to believe that this New Normal is not a restriction to my growth, but a crucial pivotal moment from which I will charge forward and breakthrough my limitations. When I determined to make these unprecedented times another prime point in my life from which I will advance by leaps and bounds, I found strength from within.
During the New Normal, I may not be bombarded with tasks, and my house does not have club practices, student meetings, or moments of arriving to class just in time, out of breath from vigorous sprinting. Nevertheless, there are plenty of responsibilities and challenges to be undertaken: chores, walking the dog, maintaining healthy relationships with friends and family, exercise, reading, and the list goes on. There is an abundance to learn from the mundane activities of daily life, something that classrooms can never teach. Sometimes the most profound truths people awaken to do not lie far in the distance, but right in front of us, in the causes we make every day. With this altered mindset, my home became the perfect training ground for me to become stronger. I worked harder than before to become victorious in every aspect of my life.
Even though this pandemic may have rendered us physically immobile, nothing can immobilize the human spirit. COVID-19 deepened my understanding in the art of learning. Education is not reliant on surroundings, but it is a constant seeking spirit that is never satisfied with our development to become a better human being. It is a conscious decision to create value out of every moment of our lives and not let anything go to waste.
As the summer holiday approached, with this renewed resolve and hunger to further develop myself, I began my search for an internship, and little did I know, that it would lead me to encounter a certain company called KASIKORN Business-Technology Group.
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