Awareness Essay

Moving into my dorm in August 2019, I never expected that I would have to move out suddenly due to a global pandemic. However, the lockdown and the situations that arose from it taught me lessons I never knew I would need and reminded me of some of the most simple joys in life. Spending all day, everyday with my family meant a great deal to me as these few months would be the last we would spend all together as my younger sister moves into college and my parents would be moving back to South Korea. I enjoyed having the much larger and private room in my own house but missed the conversations I shared with friends in my dorm and on campus. From all these things, my academic life was the most disturbed because of the coronavirus. It was the first time that something like this had caused colleges on a national scale to switch to an online platform. While there were some benefits, the drawbacks seemed to outweight them consistently.

One of the greatest difficulties and challenges of being a student in this situation was to get used to having to work at home. It was an abrupt change especially in that Spring Break had just begun. If we were to go back to campus after Spring Break every student would feel that they were back at school and learning, however the lockdown made me feel like I was still on vacation. I tried to find the motivation to do my work but it was easier to slack and let thing get away. By the time my grades began to suffer, it was too late for me to change much. This taught me an important lesson which I had been struggling with since the fall semester. The transition from high school to college was extremely difficult but I now feel more confident in my academics for next semester as I have truly learned the importance of studying and not just "winging" it. This lesson might sound silly to some or all but the change in academic rigor from my high school to college was extremely drastic. I had gone through high school "winging" it and received high marks, this allowed to get away with not studying thus I never learned proper studying techniques. Throughout the year I continue trying to wing it and crammed any studying into the days right before a major test however the lockdown and online school has taught me that there is really no better way to do well in a class than to be in attendance and to study actively not just the days before a test.

While I take full responsibility for my grades, the switch to online school was definitely not a great help either. I am incredibly thankful to professors who were so thoughtful during this time and really showed me that they cared for their students as much as what they taught. However, this was not the case for all professors. There was a stark contrast between some of my classes with how they treated the switch to online schooling. I had one professor who uploaded lectures consistenly and on time, leaving a discussion page open for any questions with assignments who actively reviewed the page and took feedback from students and changed assignment due dates and structures. On the other hand, I had a professor uploading lectures longer than their alotted section time and adding extra assignments. I also had professors who insisted on having Zoom proctored closed note exams even though the university has consistenly encouraged the opposite. It was frustrating to have midterms cancelled for some of my classes and having 50+ percent of my grade rely on the finals. I also felt like I was gambling my grade when having to choose between the P/F or letter grade option before finals. If we were to ever have an online schooling platform again, I would want the university to make a clear and united policy on how professors should handle their exams, lectures and assignments. I thought it was unreasonable that some professors were able to be extremely accomodating even with the quick change while others managed to make it more stressful on the student's end. There should have been a clear policy addressing these issues to avoid confusion and additional stress on both professors and students during this already confusing and stressful time.

The global pandemic has taught me much about my personal habits as well. I found that I should be thankful for all the walks I used to take across campus to my classes as they were the only form of consistent exercises I was getting and that I need to really buckle myself down regarding academics. It is so easy for me to give up but if I really want to achieve my goals in life, I need to buckle myself down and start putting in more time and effort into my academics. Covid-19 has caused devastating loss to many families including my own, however it reminded me of the importance of community and family in times of need.