by Matthew Flokos ·
Thursday, April 16, 2020
The COVID-19 outbreak has affected people in all walks of life, including college students. As social distancing has forced schools to close, students have had to adjust to new systems for living and education. Five Bromfield graduates, all from the Class of 2017, have shared their experiences.
All five students reported that their schools had moved classes to the virtual realm, using the video conferencing platform Zoom, with some also posting some lectures as prerecorded videos. According to all five students, the Zoom format allows lecture-style classes to proceed with little value lost. Unfortunately, other teaching styles do not translate so well to the online medium. Penn State business student Jack Shelton reported that Zoom conferencing works less well in small seminar classes, saying, “It can’t simulate the in-person experience.” On the other hand, students universally reported that professors were doing their best to remain accessible during the disruption, holding virtual office hours where students can ask questions.
Sam Hays listens to a lecture on business ethics for a class at the University of New Hampshire, where he is a sophomore. Like many college students he has been home for several weeks after the college closed due to the pandemic. (Photo by Lisa Aciukewicz)
When an academic course requires hands-on experience or specialized lab equipment, the outlook is even tougher. For Virginia Tech animal sciences major Alexandra “Ola” Ostrowski, classes that normally would have involved working directly with animals now involve reading lab procedures out of a textbook. She finds the replacement ineffectual, saying, “We aren’t learning anything.” Emma Kassel, studying film and video at the School of Art Institute of Chicago, reported that the disruption had rendered her lighting and cinematography class completely useless. In the fall, she will “have to enroll in the same class again, because it gives access to highly specific course equipment such as Steadicam, dolly/tracks, camera jib/crane, and others,” which she needs to learn how to use.
Schools differ in how they are handling exams during this time. For Brandeis biology student Clara Alexander, examinations moved online but were otherwise unaffected, with students signing honor agreements not to cheat on tests. In contrast, Wellesley student Charlotte Durham reported that her school had canceled all exams and changed all courses to a pass/fail system rather than assigning grades. She agreed with the decision, stating, “It is not possible to expect the normal level of focus and commitment in this situation.”
The virus has affected not only students’ educational experience, but their living situations as well. Ostrowski reported that she is “mostly living the same way [she] did before,” explaining that she has continued living in the same apartment near the campus, and that she hadn’t been reliant on the school meal plan even before campus dining facilities closed. On the other hand, Durham has returned to her family’s house in Harvard, where she lived while attending Bromfield. She reports feeling “disconnected” from the community, because social distancing has prevented her from engaging in classic Harvard social activities like “hanging out at the General Store, or meeting people while out on a walk.” Shelton, who also returned to Harvard, has found the change in living environment disruptive to his studies, saying, “I prefer to be in a working environment when I am working,” and said his new living situation feels like an extended spring break.
The virus has had varying impacts on students’ social lives. Kassel has been able to use social media and FaceTime to keep up with friends and family remotely from her 350-square-foot Chicago apartment. By contrast, both Shelton and Durham reported feeling cut off from their peers, and each expressed hope that, by the summer, the virus would recede and they could meet with friends in person.
Kassel, as a Chinese American, has had to cope with an additional difficulty during this crisis: racism and xenophobia. She reports that her Chinese American friends have experienced “verbal harassment and mockery” while buying groceries in downtown Chicago. While she has avoided being a target of such prejudice by remaining indoors most of the time, she reports having been harassed online.
Alexander reported having experienced a different kind of danger during this crisis: actually catching the coronavirus. “I’m pretty lucky,” she said. “For me, it just felt like having a bad cold.” After three nights of a mild fever and a dry cough, she recovered. She is confident that she caught the virus from her boyfriend while staying in his family’s home near Brandeis. He and four friends had been recalled from a study-abroad program in Spain, and they all experienced similarly mild symptoms. Other family members also experienced these mild symptoms, but her boyfriend’s father wasn’t so lucky—he had to be hospitalized for three days, causing significant worry to his family, but eventually he recovered.
One of the strangest parts of catching the virus, Alexander reported, was being contacted by groups from the state, the local government, and Brandeis University, all requesting information and giving instructions. She also reported that she personally experienced the shortage of COVID-19 tests. Of the several people in the household who caught the virus, only her boyfriend’s father was ever tested, and only after he became severely ill. Her period of quarantine ended shortly before the start of April, and she returned to her own apartment.