Coronavirus Craziness
03 Apr 2020
Quarantine Learning
When it was announced that classes were moving online, people asked if I was happy, since I would not have to go to campus and attend classes. Many of them were surprised to find out that I was rather disappointed that classes were moving online. If I was in middle school or high school, maybe I would have been happy. People are (hopefully) attending university because they want to learn and prepare for a career. I am personally worried that this sudden transition to online learning makes some classes much more difficult. Being able to attend class in-person and ask questions helps immensely with learning the material. I have also had a problem with being motivated to do my classwork and study the material. Having a scheduled time and location to learn is a great way to stay motivated. Now that I have suddenly been given full responsibility for going through the material, I have found that I keep getting distracted and putting things off until the last minute. Being practically confined to the house also has not helped. There is definitely something about going to going to places, like a university, for a specific reason like studying. Being immersed in an environment and interacting with others who are also there to learn helps a lot more with motivation than I thought.
Personal Impact
So far, I have been very fortunate that the virus has not affected anyone in my life personally. Many of my family and the people I know have had their employment affected, however, which have raised some concerns regarding how they are going to stay financially stable. Some were laid off from their jobs because they are heavily reliant on tourism and travel, which have practically all dried up. Others worked in jobs in sales that required interacting with many people. I also have family in Korea, which was scary at the start of this whole thing, but they are apparently handling it somewhat better, especially compared to how it currently is in the United States. I also have quite a few family members that are in the age range considered most at risk, so we have been trying to make sure that they take precautions to avoid getting sick.