How Have Elon Students Been Adjusting Back to All In-Person Classes?
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted students of all ages differently. Now that Elon University is a month into all in-person classes, we talked to current first-year, sophomore, junior, and senior students to see how the transition is going. Here’s what they have to say.
When the pandemic first struck in March of 2020, what did school look like for you?
First-year: It hit while I was a junior in high school, and classes were fully virtual for me. Most teachers just assigned work instead of Zoom meetings.
Sophomore: When it first struck, my school went into what we thought was going to be a two week lockdown. We immediately began taking classes on Zoom, meaning that I was finishing my senior year of high school from my bed.
Junior: In March of 2020, I was a freshman and college was normal for me. I remember watching the news the night before we were leaving for spring break, and laughing with my friends because it seemed so ridiculous that the world was falling apart in 1 day.
Senior: When the pandemic started, we were right about to go home for spring break. I wasn’t super concerned, and believed that we would be back within two weeks like the school had said.
What was the biggest initial academic challenge that you faced?
First-year: My biggest academic challenge was trying to learn math while being fully virtual. I struggled in my math class while being in person already, upon going virtual it was hard to follow along and learn in class.
Sophomore: As a student who suffers from ADHD and time management skills, online school was incredibly hard for me. I was finding that I couldn’t focus on school at home. I had already gotten into a “senior slump” when the pandemic hit and it caused me to become the most unmotivated that I had ever been. My grades took a big hit.
Junior: Definitely the hardest academic challenge was staying focused during Zoom classes and actually absorbing the material. I had a lot of early morning classes last year, and often did the Zoom calls from bed while half asleep. I also don’t believe that I learned as much as I could have in the last two years because everything was open notes and I didn’t feel the need to retain information.
Senior: The biggest academic challenge that I faced was not being able to go to in person office hours. I go to office hours frequently, and it was difficult getting my questions answered online, especially for classes involving math.
Now that Elon is completely in person, have you felt as though it took time to transition back to work on paper?
First-year: Yes, it will take time for me to fully get used to paper again.
Sophomore: It definitely took time to transition back. I just had my first paper quiz last week, and it was honestly terrifying. I had become used to doing everything online and mostly open notes. Now I have to make sure that I’m studying enough to be confident in my classes.
Junior: I haven’t had to use paper yet. My professors still have everything online so we sit in the classroom to do it together.
Senior: The transition back has been harder than I thought it would be. My classes have been a bit more time consuming than I thought that they would be. I also really dislike taking exams in the classroom setting now; I’d gotten used to complete silence while taking exams.
How has your semester been overall academically?
First-year: This semester has been going well. It was a struggle in the beginning: not only because everything was in person, but also because as a freshman, college is entirely new to me.
Sophomore: My semester has actually been good so far. I’m finally taking major related classes and I find that it's easier to do well in classes that you love.
Junior: My semester has been challenging. Upper level major courses combined with the transition back to normal school has made it a hard few weeks, and I feel like I am dedicating more time weekly to classes than I ever have before.
Senior: Overall, I would say that my semester has been challenging. Part of this can be attributed to my course load, but just getting back into that mindset of all in person classes after a year of online and hybrid has been hard.
Online school threw a “monkey wrench” into the entire education system, and altered the way that students think. Elon has taken the first step by eliminating Zoom entirely, but it will take serious time to return back to a “normal” education system.