Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, many have had to make adjustments to their daily lives due to social distancing guidelines. College students are a major group of people who have had to accommodate virtual learning and discard the in-person class schedules they were used to.
As the majority of college students are continuing classes virtually this semester, students majoring in the arts are being greatly affected by the lack of community and hands-on learning from in-person classes. Junior psychology major and theatre performance minor Sydney Pauley said, “A lot of our classes are hands on as you can imagine, so having to learn those skills through Zoom is definitely a learning curve for all of us.”
Along with having to learn remotely through Zoom, some students feel as if they are not getting the same quality of education that they were receiving in their traditional in-person classes. A large part of the learning experience includes being surrounded by those who are learning and sharing the same passions as you.
Ally Baumgartner, a junior theatre performance major, said, “everything that is performance based [is] now virtual so I’m not getting the full experience of classes like I was pre-COVID.”
Now that students are learning remotely, whether it be in their homes or in residence halls at Winthrop, they are having to be creative in where and how they get their work completed. Sophomore theatre performance major Nevaeh Woolens shared that she has had to find ways to complete her performance work in small spaces. Woolens said she has “found myself feeling unmotivated because I missed learning in a performance space.”
Although students are continuing to learn virtually and find new ways to succeed in their classes, Woolens believes that learning virtually may be beneficial to this group of college students. “I try to think of this as a learning experience” Woolens says, “since virtual learning may help me in a future career choice.”
Through the experience of learning virtually, Pauley, Baumgartner, and Woolens share the positive lessons they learned in their virtual classes that they are able to apply to this second college semester that is affected by the pandemic.
Baumgartner explained that she “learned the life skill of being flexible and understanding,” while Pauley shared she has “learned to never be afraid to ask questions because professors are more accommodating and open to questions than I had previously thought.”
Despite the obstacles of virtual learning, students that have arts related majors, professors and the arts department have made accommodations in order to meet their needs.
“For a while I didn’t think there was going to be any opportunities for me to expand my resume because of the pandemic,” Pauley said, “but the theatre community has allowed us to do auditions and productions over Zoom.”
Even though students are not able to meet and participate in the classes in a traditional form, they are now able to create spaces virtually that allow them to be a part of a community.
Photo by Olivia Esselman
