We are truly living in strange times. COVID 19 has disrupted
what we all know as modern education across the board. If you look back at
history nothing I remember relates to the devastation it has caused. It has
caused huge disruption and our Higher Ed realm has been hugely
impacted. This is to not say other
entities of education have not been affected. This is just where I am the expert and have
the most knowledge about. I know these current times have caused for many to be
laid off with pay, many businesses and companies possibly going bankrupt.
I am fortunate enough to still have job. I have friends and family that have financially been burdened because of this. I will say this these times have helped me save more money except for a few impulse buys on video games. Although our school is closed, and I’ve been working home a little over a month S/o to all the essential workers both at our school and the essential services who have been running the day to day operations during these times and still going to work although they may be putting their families at risk.
I am fortunate enough to still have job. I have friends and family that have financially been burdened because of this. I will say this these times have helped me save more money except for a few impulse buys on video games. Although our school is closed, and I’ve been working home a little over a month S/o to all the essential workers both at our school and the essential services who have been running the day to day operations during these times and still going to work although they may be putting their families at risk.
Adjustments
Everyone has adjusted and sacrificed during these times. The Staff, Faculty, Administration and Students all have given a lot
from their traditional norms. My last day working on Campus was March 16th.
We went into a staff meeting and was told we would have the option to work from
home until April 6th because that’s when the school had given the
students off as we started our transition to remote format. With the initial announcement our School was
allowing students to stay on campus. That soon changed as we experienced our
first reported COVID 19 Case on campus. The School than gave the students till
Sunday to move out and told them to take what they need, and they would store
the rest of their belongings until the situation subside. I really felt bad
because we had student workers still working because they couldn’t go home when
the school first announced the suspension of classes. One of our Student
workers lived in Minnesota and another in Toronto.
I thought about my time in college and how my mom and I use to plan so they could save up to make the drive to get me from school. I know this whole situation has affected the first-generation students the hardest. There families had to find ways in the middle of the semester to get them back home and in some cases maybe even put their belongings in storage. Shout out to everyone who tried to help where they could. From the companies offered free storage, to the free flights, and bus rides given to students trying to get home. It truly has taken a village. The faculty members have had to take their classes in some cases lose a 2 to 3 weeks of instruction and put everything online to make sure students could still get their education. Can’t forget the work being done by the school administrators all around the U.S. I’ve heard of some leadership teams meeting daily to discuss. Some great ideas and initiatives have come out of these meetings from offer students refunds for housing and various fees, help grants, sending students laptops and phones to be able to do work, extend the withdraw deadline, and offer students the option of Pass/Fail for this term. You don't realize how busy the school staff are until there is a crisis and you start to see how over worked they are.
I thought about my time in college and how my mom and I use to plan so they could save up to make the drive to get me from school. I know this whole situation has affected the first-generation students the hardest. There families had to find ways in the middle of the semester to get them back home and in some cases maybe even put their belongings in storage. Shout out to everyone who tried to help where they could. From the companies offered free storage, to the free flights, and bus rides given to students trying to get home. It truly has taken a village. The faculty members have had to take their classes in some cases lose a 2 to 3 weeks of instruction and put everything online to make sure students could still get their education. Can’t forget the work being done by the school administrators all around the U.S. I’ve heard of some leadership teams meeting daily to discuss. Some great ideas and initiatives have come out of these meetings from offer students refunds for housing and various fees, help grants, sending students laptops and phones to be able to do work, extend the withdraw deadline, and offer students the option of Pass/Fail for this term. You don't realize how busy the school staff are until there is a crisis and you start to see how over worked they are.
The Loss of
Graduation
I think one of huge disappointments is what’s going to
happen with graduation. I personally had
mentees graduating this year and even a few friends from Law School. Some schools have moved graduation to a later
date, some have opted into virtual ceremonies, and some schools have no plans
to hold commencements. My heart goes out to those students who have had these
moments taken away from them. Sometimes it isn’t just the graduations it’s the
times, experiences, and traditions leading up to the big day that makes it all
worth it. It's having your family come together around your big day and give you this
happy ending of accomplishing a goal. For my experience some of the best
moments in school came within the last month of classes when you are finishing
up projects and your saying your final farewells to your favorite teacher,
staff member, or friends because you all our going to travel different paths after
graduation. Nothing is going to ever fill that void of what was missed. To all
of the graduates you have met the goal and you deserve all the praise coming
your way. We are proud of you!
Plans for the Future
The future is very uncertain with the current state of the
U.S.A., here in Illinois our Shelter in Place order just got extended until the
end of May. From our School’s updates I
was already scheduled to be working from home until the end of May. With Most
Colleges/Universities being remote after spring break everyone is wondering
what’s next? Some Institutions have put in place plans for summer classes to be
offered fully remote. Other Colleges/Universities are exploring ideas for maybe
running remote for Fall because no one knows when this Pandemic will be over. I
expect higher ed to lose both U.S. and International students. I have talked to
students from both populations who have opted out the Fall to go home and work
to save money or students who refuse to take classes in their major
online.
The significance is I work at a Private Performing Arts School and as many students have said “the thought of doing some classes online is injustice to their education”. I have joked about this to my friends but the good thing that has came out of this whole pandemic has showed us that a lot of our jobs can be done from home. In the future if it’s a slow season for your job I think its appropriate if you can get a remote day or two in. I know it’s becoming more of a thing and I have friends as advisors who are working remote at least one day a week during the summers. Hopefully when things go back to normal or whatever that is, and people get caught back up on bills I encourage everyone to start or put more into their savings account to be prepared if something like this happens again.
The significance is I work at a Private Performing Arts School and as many students have said “the thought of doing some classes online is injustice to their education”. I have joked about this to my friends but the good thing that has came out of this whole pandemic has showed us that a lot of our jobs can be done from home. In the future if it’s a slow season for your job I think its appropriate if you can get a remote day or two in. I know it’s becoming more of a thing and I have friends as advisors who are working remote at least one day a week during the summers. Hopefully when things go back to normal or whatever that is, and people get caught back up on bills I encourage everyone to start or put more into their savings account to be prepared if something like this happens again.
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