Loathing
Denton, TX
I can’t really stand it. We must study for tests, tests that people can cheat on because we don’t actually learn the material with this hodge podge online learning system. I’m not learning. I could watch the class recordings all day and not learn this way unfortunately. My motivation to learn has gone down the drain. I have started cooking much more, and putting mandatory time aside to walk several miles a day. Aside from that, school has become ‘that thing’ I do briefly every other day where I google answers, write them down, and turn them in for a grade.
Pullman, WA
I am a student at Washington State University and I am hating life right now. To get by I am writing in a journal and talking to my friend who lives in France. I am also online shopping like crazy and running out of money. I just love the feeling of getting gifts at my door though. It’s unhealthy. But I am trying to get by in my classes and I am dropping two of our four and taking pass/fail on the two I’m staying in just to maintain a decent GPA. I am still going to fail my finance class and that’s rough to know. This is getting to be too much and I want so desperately for things to go back to normal.
Birmingham, AL
My favorite class was Chinese and I used to pass with 105%. Since the switch to online classes, I’ve failed out and withdrawn from the course. It’s absolutely miserable trying to speak a foreign language over video call in my opinion, so I stopped attending. Online classes gave me no structure and I pretty quickly lost all semblance of a healthy sleep schedule. Pretty soon I found it impossible to get out of bed for an 11 AM course and slept in. Then as soon as I’d missed the first one, I didn’t care anymore and missed another one. Then I felt like I was so behind that attending made me anxious because I knew I’d be called on and embarrassed, so I skipped three whole weeks of online meetings and failed out.
New Haven, CT
My favorite class is much worse. I’m an Honors student and most of my classes are discussion-based, and discussion boards definitely do not generate the same level or depth of discussion. Also professors who were rather hands-on before the transition online are now taking a more hands-off approach which equals students being forced to teach themselves subjects instead. Ultimately, it typically becomes just a lecture after 20 minutes since students either aren’t as inclined to participate online or because they cannot due to environmental noise. It’s emotionally draining in a way that going to class isn’t. Honestly, Zoom calls go on for way too long and very little gets accomplished or talked about. It’s a waste of time and energy.
Elgin, IL
My production methods class used to be very fun because we did a lot of physical projects. The switch to online classes made it harder and overwhelming as my professor did not ease up on course work. We now had to digitally respond to classmates’ work instead of in-person critiques. We also used to have required field trips but they were turned into required reflections on certain videos and articles.