As being college students, whether it be residential, commuter or one that has recently become the biggest of all (an online student), we have all had to learn many different things. That’s literally our job; to learn things. In fact you don’t even have to be a college student to learn things, but I think you already knew that.
As commuters, we had to learn how to get to our school; to park at our school; to do our school work, whether it be in the library or our kitchen table; to balance school work and our job. Some may even have had to learn how to take classes on campus as well as online. And because of the world we are currently living in, that has become my hardest challenge yet.
I do feel that many college commuters also take online classes since it can be more beneficial for them to stay home instead of having to drive in everyday, or taking an online class so they can go to work or tend to their children more. Needless to say, I’ve never been one of those commuters. I’ve never taken an online class until now.
WHAT! I know. It sounds crazy!
I just never thought I would enjoy it, I found it to be a lot more work, and frankly I was scared of it. I don’t know if there are any of you like me out there, but if so, leave it in the comments below and let me know as to why you’ve never taken an online class.
But the time had come. A time I was dreading and was never expecting. Due to the pandemic, all my classes were forced to go online and for the first time ever I had to learn how to take online classes. Dun Dun Dunnnnn…
Lets just start off by saying this, it hasn’t been easy and I’m still working it. It’s not like I can go from one day only having face-to-face classes and then magically transitioning perfectly into online classes. This is a process that I have to deal with day by day and continue to keep practicing at. And you do too since we are all currently in this together.
Queue The High School Musical Ending in 3,…2,…1…
Anyways, each day I’ve had to learn how to access the work along with learning how to submit it. I’ve also learned that every teacher is different. So learning how each one runs their course has been a challenge. I’ve also had to learn what Zoom is as I’m sure most of you have too. I’m not sure about you guys, but the only thing that came to my mind when hearing about Zoom was the kid TV show lol.
Wow I’m old.
I think one of the biggest struggles has been the change from having a specific schedule to now having class anytime you want and teachers sending work and announcements left and right. Have you gotten ones at 1am because I have. It’s ridiculous!
Like I’ve said it’s been quite challenging and very stressful. Everyday I’ve been trying to create a system of my own to keep everything structured as much as I can to make sure I get the work done, yet still have enough time to relax. It’s been working for me so far, but remember time management is key. If you need a starting point may I suggest a to-do list or even blocking out times to do specific things.
That is actually something I learned from a couple of tip sheets that I read. I highly recommend that if you’re stuck transitioning from face-to-face to now online during this time to look through some tip sheets on how to take online classes. Or even if you’re someone who is considering online classes in the future. They are certainly helpful to know and in fact you may already know some that you have applied in your regular classes.
I will say though that this is not a regular semester nor how regular online classes go. This is a weird time for all of us so we need to be patient and try not to beat ourselves up about not doing things the way we hope. This is a learning curve we all need to deal with, even our teachers. If you’re reading this now (during the Covid-19 pandemic) and are struggling with the transition from face-to-face to online I highly recommend this tip sheet for how to deal with taking online classes now.
All I can say is that we’re all going through it right now, some having it harder than others, but we can get through this. Before you know it the semester will be over and summer will be here. YAY!! All we can do now is try our best and be kind to one another. This is not a normal situation for any of us so we need to give each other some slack. Even if you think you are the only one struggling during this time and having a hard time navigating through this new territory called online classes, just know I’m right there with you struggling and learning every step of the way.
Committing to the Commute 