How Covid-19 has affected education

by Skyler Bradley

This past spring, I was sent home from my four-year university due to Covid 19. Initially, we had been told to come back in two weeks, it seemed like it was only a precautionary measure. Soon after sending students home last spring, we were told that my university was calling it for the semester and that we would proceed remotely. This was heartbreaking to not only myself but to my friends and peers as well. Even the professors were struggling with teaching online. Many of my professors were open about how they felt about teaching remotely and it was refreshing to hear as a student that even my professors were having a hard time with learning and teaching completely remotely. Naturally, most students were disappointed to hear that the fall semester would be remote in most places. My options for the fall were to return to my university, with the risk that we could all be asked to leave, or I could attend Cape Cod Community College and do my classes that way. My classes were remote either way and I knew that taking my courses through 4C’s was the smartest option for me at the time.

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Image: Skyler Bradley in her dorm room (photo provided by Skyler Bradley)

With the fall semester slowly coming to an end soon, I am proud of myself and my friends and peers for making it through this tough semester. Learning remotely is not ideal and it is often hard to concentrate with the other distractions of life floating around. With the spring semester coming up, I have plans to return to my four-year university and I am eager to be back. Although I am excited to get away from Cape Cod and am excited to be able to see some of my school friends that live far away, I know that I am returning to a very different campus in the spring. The social aspect of a campus is half the experience in my opinion, and this may greatly impact students upon their return to campus. Although we are in the midst of a pandemic, education still remains extremely important in the life of a young adult and education cannot stop because of the pandemic. Colleges and universities seem to be doing all they can do to allow students to get the greatest experience possible, even in the midst of Covid-19.

My beautiful campus will now be filled with students and professors with masks on instead of being able to see someone’s smiling face coming at you. Classrooms will be restricted and instead of twenty students in a class, there may only be ten. I know that for the most part, I will be restricted to my dorm room with my roommates and this could present itself as an overwhelming sense of isolation. I am taking my return to my four-year university in the spring as an opportunity to learn things about myself and try my best to fight the feelings of isolation. Covid-19 has posed a great threat on the education of many and I believe that students not only pay too much money, but also work too hard to not be able to get the most out of their experience. I plan to get the most out of my four-year university, even in the midst of a pandemic.

Categories: Editorials, Professors, Student Life