It comes as no surprise that college students are dealing with serious life adjustments as they return back to their campuses. Mental health struggles are nothing new to this generation, but, with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the idea of the atypical college experience has been lost.
Both students and faculty alike have dealt with their own mental and social adjustments upon their arrival back, but, after spending a full year almost entirely on Zoom, it is safe to say that being back in a real classroom is a refreshing change of pace.
“I had to force myself to get work done at home in my bed because there was no other alternative,” says Bradley University student, Ceci Arteaga. They are majoring in Animation and minoring in Women’s and Gender Studies and Film Studies.
Looking at this time last year, many students were still out of work and focusing on their classes while at home. One of the luxuries of having online classes while at home was that there was much more flexibility, especially when there is nowhere to go.
While classes may be synchronous whether or not they are remote, the atmospheres are completely different. Being in a classroom again means that there is no hiding behind a screen. Considering this, the social demands that being back in a classroom has are overlooked.
Kyron Patterson is also a junior at Bradley who is pursuing a major in Game Design with a minor in Studio Art. Like a majority of students, he spent his first semester of the pandemic at home.
“Mentally, I completely fell apart while doing remote,” says Kyron. “The battle of having to manage all of my classes from a computer while working from my house made me far less motivated to do anything”
With the motivation aspect in mind, students were not the only ones figuring out how to be successful online. Professors also had an adjustment period when transferring all of their material into an online format.
Landon Finn, junior and Political Science major at Bradley, agreed that being on-campus was better for everyone.
“Being in person is a huge advantage to education, and I hope that it is here to stay,” He says. “At times, it just felt awkward to ask questions or talk over the zoom screen. There is no interaction.”
Taking the quarantines and social distancing into consideration, there really was not any personal interaction during the beginning of the pandemic. Being back on campus has proven to be beneficial for everyone both socially and mentally.