The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically changed the lives of everyone in the world. Working from home has become a new normal, wearing a mask is commonplace and online learning has swept the educational landscape. As a result of the pandemic, schools and universities alike moved to virtual learning environments and the impacts have been felt across the globe.
To gain another perspective of how COVID-19 has affected learning and the transition from high school to college, I interviewed my sister, Mikaela Armstrong. Mikaela attended Washington Township High School which is located in Valparaiso, Indiana. She went through her senior year of high school during the pandemic, and is now going into her freshman year at Elmhurst University where she is playing college basketball.
“In terms of my senior year, the most positive thing was that we were in-person the whole year except for two weeks because of a small outbreak in the school. As for going into my freshman year of college, I was nervous to move on campus, but after my first week of classes, I have really enjoyed my independence. All of my classes are in-person as of right now and I am very happy about that. However, there are lots of rules in terms of COVID-19 guidelines. Throughout my senior year, we had to wear masks in the classroom, but we did not have to wear them during workouts or any kind of physical activity. Now following Illinois state guidelines, I have to wear a mask everywhere inside and while I do basketball workouts. In order to attend school and play basketball, I had to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Even with all the challenges, I am optimistic and excited about my freshman year.”
As a current student in my Junior year at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, it is a world’s difference from my freshman to junior year. I have attended all in-person classes, all virtual courses, and a mix of both. This fall semester has been a breath of fresh air for me as I am finally back to in-person classes. I have always learned better in-person just because I am able to focus more on learning than be tempted by other distractions while on Zoom. As Mikaela stated, “The online learning environment can be hard to focus in just because of my phone being right next to me and the TV being right there for me to turn on if I want. Being in-person allows me to focus on learning as opposed to all the distractions next to me.”
This pandemic has changed everything about learning and so much more. According to Pearson’s Global Learner Survey, nearly 70 percent of college students see more value in their education than ever before and feel like they’ve grown as a person, gaining self-motivation, adaptability, and emotional resiliency. While everyone’s experiences are not the same, they are very similar, and at the end of the day we should be proud of all the challenges we had to overcome. While the pandemic stripped away valuable learning experiences, it taught all of us when obstacles arise, you have to find ways to keep moving forward.
Jared Armstrong is a junior at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis and a Pearson Campus Ambassador.