My Struggles with Virtual Learning

I’m currently ten weeks into my entirely virtual semester in college.

At this point in the semester, with only four weeks left, I typically begin to feel the stress of looming finals and presentations. I spend hours upon hours in the library, occasionally leaving my study corner to take a quick trip to the dining hall for some sustenance. My world revolves around assignments and the upcoming break that I can look to as a beacon of hope that soon enough, my hard work will have paid off.

I can’t say the same this time around.

In fact, I can’t say I feel anything this semester, and to be quite honest, I haven’t learned a single thing. Being ten weeks in, I wish I could share with you just one thing that’s stuck out to me so far from any of my courses, but I can’t.

Each week, I sit in front of my computer screen from 11 in the morning until six at night. I watch my professors, the single face in a void of black screens that are supposed to be my other classmates, and I listen as they try their best to engage the class in discussion.

The same two students answer all the questions, the others are almost entirely forgotten, and at the end of the night I close my computer screen and take an Advil to relieve my pounding headache. Another successful day of class.

I turn in discussion posts, I raise my hand once or twice each class, and I look over the shared Powerpoints each week. There’s nothing else to do, nothing else to learn.

I feel like I’m on auto-pilot. Everyday, I struggle to get myself out of bed in the morning to get to class on time, only to sit on my phone with my camera off, my focus alternating between my professor’s droning voice and a funny tweet that somehow feels more important.

As I’ve reflected on my work ethic this semester, I realize that my outlook on virtual learning has gotten in the way of the education I’m paying for. Sure, we all miss in-person learning and study groups and working with our friends in the library, but if this is the best I can get at the moment, then why don’t I try to make the most of it?

I made myself a guide to better handle next semester, which will most likely also be online, and I thought I would share for anyone else who may be feeling the same struggle with dwindling motivation.

Set deadlines for yourself with a planner

This semester, I looked at my syllabi maybe once or twice. I procrastinated on my assignments until the last minute, and somehow managed to skate by with fantastic grades. There was no effort, but I still succeeded, and getting A’s on assignments I finished in maybe an hour or so taught me that I didn’t need to try so hard in online school. This is a dangerous mindset, and I’ll never learn anything if I continue to look at my courses as lower-level priorities.

For next semester, and for the rest of this one, I bought myself a planner to map out all upcoming assignments. In normal semesters, I always carried a planner with me to keep up with all of my work and priorities, including extra curricular activities. It’s something that’s always helped me in the past, and to do my best next semester I need a planner to stay on top of my work.

Put your phone in another room during class time

This one is pretty self-explanatory, but my phone and social media is my biggest distraction when it comes to virtual learning. When my phone is near me, I can’t help but pick it up every few seconds when class gets boring —which it almost always is—and making sure I can’t see it during class time will help me stay more focused. I imagine this may make me more inclined to turn my camera on during class, which would also force me to really pay attention if my professors can see my face.

Communicate with professors as much as you can

I’ll admit, my mental health this semester has been quite possibly the worst it’s ever been, and there were times where I skipped class just to sit in my room on Twitter or TikTok for hours. Rather than communicating with my professors about my issues, I kept them to myself, letting them grow into something much bigger than it would’ve been if I just talked to someone. Virtual learning isn’t easy, and a lot of us are in the same boat, so next semester I want to build better relationships with my professors and be open about how I’m feeling.

Be kind to yourself

Also fairly self-explanatory, but right now we’re all navigating personal issues with mental health, motivation, and handling life during the pandemic. We all should show ourselves grace and understanding during this time, and continuing to put pressure on ourselves to always be perfect and motivated and on top of everything will ultimately shatter any drive we had before. None of this is easy, and I don’t think anyone expected for this to be going on for so long now. We have to find peace within ourselves and understand that we’re doing the best we can.