Chicago community college sophomore talks socialization
Phtoto courtesy of Creative Commons
Parents and students alike are feeling the strain that online learning puts on a family. The stressors range from finding sitters, food insecurities to lack of internet.
COVID-19 has tested humanity in ways we could not have imagined just a year ago, creating what feels like a whole new world.
The social unrest is due, in part, to poor relations between local police departments and civilians. African Americans American citizens like Breonna Taylor and George Floyd being killed by police sparked serious polarizing conversations.
With the presidential election finally decided, Americans are left to question (if they have not done so already) if President Donald Trump has done what needs to be done in the face of the pandemic and social unrest. We wonder if there is anyone who would know exactly what to do in a situation of this magnitude, political leader, or medical professional, may prove discouraging. In times of crisis, it is very easy to assign blame, and it is impossible to please everyone.
In these tough times, when everyone seems to be at each other's throats and tensions high, it is nice to talk to trusted and loved ones. A pandemic is going on currently and social interaction, for the first time that I can remember, is being discouraged. This limited social interaction has been a struggle for one anonymous male community college sophomore who described the ways he and his friends keep in touch outside of the classroom.
“Specifically like online classes, sometimes it’s hard to keep track of like assignments and what to do and all this and that ya know [because] like you know sometimes it's all jumbled up, you know it’s messy it’s hard to find everything,” he stated.
This is an individual struggling without his classmates in a classroom helping one another out. This situation requires this student and every other student wanting to succeed in school to be creative in devising ways of communicating outside of the physical classroom. Students have to do this not only for school work but also just to vent or destress about all the situations going on in the world.
“Yeah, so, me and my friends usually communicate online while playing video games and stuff,” said the student. “We use, you know, programs like discord and all the other stuff sowe pretty much keep in contact and it’s way easier texting nowadays then it was before.”
In-person interaction may have suffered, but apps like Zoom and Facetime are in demand currently for fun “face-to-face” meetings. Video chat is as close as some of us can get to real face to face meetings. Social media is also vastly being utilized such as Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat.
All of these disasters (it feels like one after another) make everyday life very difficult. Unbelievable stress and grief has been put on countless families and individuals all across the world. The social distanced world can often feel lonely and isolated. But what is important to keep in mind is that that is not an abnormal feeling amidst a global pandemic forcing many people to change their lives so drastically. The end of this pandemic and social unrest is unclear, as is life going “back to normal” as it is commonly referred. Despite how difficult it is to stay focused on online learning with the social unrest and the global Pandemic going on but college sophomores are being creative and making a way out of no way.
Link to Photo: https://www.flickr.com/photos/79015742@N08/8228099163