As A Michigan State Student, I Can Say That Virtual Classes Have Been Better Than I Expected
Why the virtual school year has not been as bad as I thought it would be so far.
For pretty much every college student going back to campus, whether it be in person or online, the school year has looked anything but normal. The majority of us are probably doing classes from the comfort of our own homes, apartments, and maybe even dorms for some. For me, I'm doing completely virtual classes from my hometown, and while it really was not the way I had wanted to start the year, so far it's actually gone better than I expected it to go.
Originally, I was supposed to be moving back up to campus, live in my single-room dorm, and having a small amount of in-person learning with mostly online classes. However, one week before I was supposed to move in, Michigan State made the decision to move all classes online, and HIGHLY encouraged all students who were living on campus to remain at home for the fall.
Initially, I was highly disappointed in this decision, especially since it was made right after my tuition was paid. Even though I would have still been doing virtual classes, I was excited to move back to school and live on campus. But not surprisingly, those plans had to change, and for the past few weeks, I've been learning from the comfort of my own home. While I'm still highly disappointed in MSU's decision, I will admit that the whole online learning thing is going pretty good so far.
Now, I am one of those people who enjoy learning in-person because I feel that I have an easier time learning when I'm face-to-face and interacting with others. At first, the thought of going virtual made me nervous because during the spring the whole virtual learning thing did not go well for me. Most of my classes became very disorganized and I had a hard time learning because of it.
I will say though that I feel, for the most part, my professors this semester were very prepared to teach virtually, and most of them have found ways to make the classes easier on us and engaging as well. Again, I'm not saying these classes are exactly like they would have been in person, but I know that my professors are trying their best, and I do appreciate them for giving us an experience that can be as close to that as they can get.
In some cases, learning at home has actually been for the better this semester. One thing that learning at home has taught me is to have better time management. I have actually found it easier this semester to manage my time with classes and homework than other semesters, and that has actually taken a lot of stress off of me. I've also been able to feel more relaxed when I'm in my own space, meaning I can watch a lecture in a more comfortable way as opposed to being cramped in a hard chair in a lecture hall.
Like I said, I am still disappointed with MSU's decision, and I would have loved to have had a more normal semester. However, I'm more satisfied with how classes are going right now compared to the spring semester. I'm learning to adapt to these changes each day, and I can only hope in the spring I'll be back on campus with more in-person learning. But until then, I'll be enjoying my time at home and making the most out of this semester.
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