After spring break in March, Bluffton University went to online remote learning for the remainder of the semester. There was a lot of change not only for the professors but for the students as well. Students had to go back home and do courses through Zoom or at their own pace depending on how the professor decided to continue the course.
These ways of learning were new for many of the students and took some time to adjust to. With these changes, many students were feeling more stressed than before.
Freshman Staci Bienko, an exercise science major. Photo courtesy of Staci Bienko.
Some students stressed about classes like freshman Staci Bienko, an exercise science major.
Other students like sophomore Adam Shanaman, a Bible and theology double major, stressed about poor internet connection making them miss some classes.
“The most stressful thing about moving online was feeling like I might miss something because my internet at home is not great,” said Shanaman. “So sometimes I would miss class because I couldn’t connect.”
Junior Kori Frey, a double major in social work and psychology, was getting stressed over the abundance of emails a day she was receiving.
Senior Nicholas Hoffman, a business administration and accounting double major. Photo courtesy of Nicholas Hoffman.
Senior Nicholas Hoffman, a business administration and accounting double major, and junior Zachary Lykins were stressed from not knowing when things would change.
“The most stressful thing about moving to online courses was not knowing if more things would change each day or week,” said Hoffman. “That and trying to get accustomed to everything each time something did change.”
These students believe the transition between in-person classes to online classes went smoothly or as smoothly as expected. Shanaman and many other Bluffton students had some professors who moved classes to courses where students work at their own pace, others chose to use Zoom and still meet face-to-face with their students.
“It was weird with the move to online classes because some of my professors moved to asynchronous classes so I never saw them,” said Shanaman. “One of my favorite things about Bluffton is the small class size and personal attention I get from my professors. I felt like that was missing.”
Frey talked about how the transition went as smoothly as expected and in a way it reminded her of the Titanic.
“It felt like ‘sink-or-swim’ the two months we were online,” said Frey. “Many of my peers that I talked to struggled with the changes and felt overwhelmed. To keep the figurative language consistent, the professors and many of Bluffton’s staff and faculty did act as life-preservers often within these two months.”
During this time of remote learning, many professors took time out of their class time to check up on students to make sure they were all doing okay. They were being an ear to listen when a student was having trouble with anything going on. They would even hold office hours over Zoom for students to still have that time to talk with them.
“I think the professors did a great job,” said Lykins. “They helped us stay positive and really cared about how we were doing during the time away from Bluffton.”
