Opinion | Reluctantly ready to greet my digital classmates
Mady Dever, Opinions Editor
It is now month six of what has now been donned “the new normal” and at this point, I thought I’d be preparing to drive out to Orange to kick off my senior year. I could be reuniting with friends and going to parties of more than 10 people. I could sit in the Folino Theater at Dodge College watching the latest guest speaker, or wait an hour in the campus Starbucks line while running into professors and classmates. I could be sitting in a small classroom, table-reading my thesis script that’s been running in my head since I came to Chapman (I made a color-coded schedule and everything). But, with every weekly CU Safely Back email, each one more disheartening than the last, it became increasingly clear that we’re not returning to in-person classes, possibly for the rest of the year.
And to be honest, I don’t want to go back.
As announced Aug. 4 by Chapman President Daniele Struppa, our new reality is as I expected: online classes. This means more Zoom lectures and solitary learning. I scraped through those final months of spring online, but it’s hard to imagine another semester completely remote, distanced, and isolated from campus. I’m sure we’re all painfully aware that small talk before an online class is awkward and nearly impossible. There’s only so many ways you can stay focused and interested through a digital screen.
And yet, I find myself frustrated seeing posts from students craving a campus return or an opening of their social circles. I live with someone who is immune compromised, and every move I make feels like a risk. Regardless of their situations, I can’t understand people who are quick to return to normalcy, as much as I would love to do the same. Though I find it easy to collapse under this new weight that all students across the country are trying to navigate, I try to find ways to stay positive and connected to my fellow students, like through Chapman’s virtual on-campus events – to be grateful that I’m even able to get an education, regardless of the method.
But with lack of improvement in COVID-19 cases, Chapman continuing to raise tuition despite a pandemic, a large number of Orange County citizens refusing mask and social distancing policies and the Orange County Board of Education suing Gov. Gavin Newsom due to school closures, sometimes it’s hard to see a bright side. Looking down at the long road ahead, I wonder how many yellow tick marks I’ll count before I see light at the end of the dark tunnel that is 2020. But I have to put the inconveniences of online classes into perspective and appreciate that I am safe and healthy, while many cannot be.