Struggling PCC students triumph amid a global pandemic
By Ceyli Orrego
Student Roseanne Franco sits alongside her grandmother, clutching onto her hand. Her grandmother’s advanced Alzheimer’s had left her unable to speak, but this didn’t stop Franco from reading out loud to her. She flips through pages of her latest textbook, using this time to catch up on homework as well as spend time with her grandmother. Then came the pandemic, severing Franco’s connection to her grandmother, aunt, and school. She would lose her grandmother and aunt all within a year.
The overwhelming stress and fears accompanying pandemic life began taking their toll on student mental health.
Over a year ago PCC closed its doors to in-person learning, and with that, students were thrown into an isolated learning world. Kitchens turned into laboratories; bedrooms became art rooms and student bonds turned into detached digital relationships.
When the quarantine went into effect, the dividing line between home life and student life disappeared. Students suddenly found themselves balancing homework and the chaos of having everyone home.
“Everything just got blurred, especially for some students that have children or stopped working,” said personal counselor Fernando Villegas. “I know for myself that’s what happened. My kids were at home, my wife was at home and nobody knew when I was on the clock and when I was off the clock. Students were struggling with the same thing. Parents would barge in not giving them their privacy and not understand when they were doing work, so the structure was an area that students were struggling with during the pandemic [along with] self-care and leisure.”
Student Kathleen Mcleod struggled with her fashion courses when PCC went into remote learning.
“I had high hopes, but I didn’t do well sewing online,” said Mcleod. “My teacher would say, use your kitchen table, but the kitchen table at home always has stuff on it. I also have two cats who lay on my pattern paper when I try to measure it.”
No one could deny that the essential workers felt the stress of keeping up with the pandemic’s demand. Grocery store workers worked around the clock to supply mass panic buying. Franco herself is an essential worker, full-time student, and full-time mother.
“I work at a small Italian market called Claros and at work, it was like the holidays, busy from opening to closing, so not much time to study,” said Franco. “Either I or my daughter would make dinner when I got home around seven, we would eat and talk about the day. Then she would play her games with friends and I would start homework until about midnight and then we woke up at 6 a.m. to do it all over again.”
Franco had started the semester with 14 units but had to drop two courses due to the high demand of school and a full-time job. Many students walked down a similar path and loaded up on classes that are already difficult in person.
“We have students trying to take chemistry and physiology remotely or a very challenging math course and then really struggling with that,” said Villegas. “When they’re struggling, that’s when we see them symptom-wise. Either anxiety or their depression or just overall unhappiness because they’re not doing as well, as they used to.”
Before one could walk down to the cafe and pick up some food between classes or meet up with a classmate for coffee and studying. It was the little things that made student life a little easier. Now we were all at home with nothing but our thoughts to keep us company.
“Everybody all of a sudden had all of this free time which you know, for some people they think it was a blessing, but for other people, it was really problematic,” said Villegas. “They didn’t know how to structure their lives. They didn’t know when to get up and this is a lot of [what] we’re talking about, like when is it work time, when is school time and when is it personal time.”
Students lost hope and chose not to continue their studies, causing a nationwide enrollment decline of 8%. Though, despite the doom and gloom of at-home learning, students found other coping methods and managed to persevere through the toughest of times.
With Mcleod’s home turning into her classroom, she dove into creating as a means of escape.
“Artistic pursuits and reading really saved my sanity,” said Mcleod. “Being able to focus on something and create things didn’t make it feel like I was stuck at home.”
Mcleod, like many students, found an outlet during the quarantine but is still counting down the days till she can step foot on campus again.
“Because I hope to have a career in fashion, sewing or design I want to be in person and present,” said Mcleod. “I can’t wait to sit in a classroom again.”
When Franco thought she couldn’t handle it anymore, she focused on time with her daughter.
“When I wanted to say F the world, we would color Mandala coloring books,” said Franco. “Since my grandma passed away, we needed something to keep us busy so we adopted a cat, Tommy. Now, he knows when something is bugging us because he will just cuddle on top of us.”
The important thing was that PCC students were reaching out and asking for that help. Counselors were more accessible than ever before and communities came together to aid those who had no one.
“It came down to managing expectations,” said Villegas. “Realizing that if you fail the class or you delayed transfer it’s not the end of the world. It’s part of life and how can we take better care of ourselves even for people that don’t have loved ones that are supportive. Where can we help find the support? The irony is with COVID it was a lot easier because a lot of people were doing zoom, so it was easier to get people connected. We created an Instagram and we just flooded it with the services, the programs, and the different things that we offer so students can have that reminder that we’re always here for them.”
