College: The place where I would finally be free;
College: The place where I along with my friends could create innumerable memories;
College: The platform where I could explore and learn about myself through and through;
Yes, this is what I hoped college would be. And yes, until now, I haven’t been fortunate enough to experience this.
College during a pandemic is a concept which we could not have even fathomed, and yet, here we are. It can be extremely stressful and disappointing at the same time, to stare at the laptop screen for 6 hours every day; days which were supposed to be some of the best of your life.
Thus, after attending online classes for more than a year now, here are some of my personal takeaways:
DO’S :
- Look for a quiet , organised space , a platform where you feel comfortable. It should be away from your loving pets, or the banging of the utensils early in the morning.
- Ensure that your mic and camera (if said) is switched off before joining the class. You have no idea what an absolute lifesaver it can be. Unmute yourself only when you actually want to say something.
- Make sure that you utilise the time that you are in front of the screen . If the class is of a subject you’re really interested in, pay attention and take notes. Else, finish some other task and utilise the time efficiently . Time management is the key.
- Do try to make notes of subjects which you know aren’t your strongest point, before it turns into a heap of mess the day before your exams and you become clueless from where to start. Practice the diagrams , graphs and formulas :stuff which isn’t easily available online.
- If possible , try to interact in the class with the teacher and your peers. It would help you to gain brownie points with the teacher and even you would find the class more engaging and fruitful. Ask doubts and answer questions to get the maximum output from the seemingly pointless virtual classes.
DON’T’S
- Don’t sit for all the classes in one go. I cannot stress on this enough. Online classes do tend to make you lazy and drowsy, so move around after each class for 3-5 minutes. Take a short walk, talk to your family or grab a bite. Taking short breaks will definitely help you to reduce your fatigue.
- Do not let the beautiful resource known as the ‘Internet’ go to waste. There is tons of information and resources out there on literally everything , and it would surely help you. Online mode can create a huge gap between the teacher and student , and you can always rely on the Internet whenever youre stuck on something.
- Don’t log into your class late , no matter how many episodes you binge watched last night. Logging in on helps you to keep a track of what’s going on , and attendance of course.
- Avoid starting your assignments two hours before the deadline. Some assignments might look short but take up tons of time , and you never know which emergency might come up. So try to finish it a day before. The feeling after submission is something else, and even you would be under less stress and get time to finish other things.
On that note, let’s just say I’m dying to go and visit college offline and interact with actual faces instead of Zoom screens. We are missing out on real interactions, true relationships, and the college experience in general.
Let’s hope college is everything we imagined it to be!