Well, it was inevitable. The coronavirus column. It is hard to ignore something that quite literally puts your entire life on hold as you move back home to your house in sleepy-little farmland in the middle of nowhere. Oh? Is that just me?
Since the middle of March, it’s been a “new normal” – one of the new media phrases that has been shoved down every American’s throat. Everyone (mostly) is at home, somehow taking their classes online. Restaurants are closed, events are canceled, and leaving room for Jesus is being enforced. It’s a drastic change that happened in less than a week.
I can reiterate all the same “standard” effects that COVID-19 has had on my life as a graduating senior. No last semester of classes, no last issue of The Stute, no senior week, etcetera. Everyone has a similar list of things that they missed during their last semester away from Stevens. It’s a sad moment – but with everything going on, Stevens is handling the situation quite well.
If you’ve read almost any of my “commentaries” on Stevens, I tend to take a more critical stance on everything going on. However, this time it’s a little bit more difficult for me to do so. Since February, Stevens has provided updates on the coronavirus situation – well before anyone recognized the virus as a threat. Large events were canceled, and not even a week later classes went online without too much of a hiccup. Classes have since been operating pretty well online, and I feel that the school has provided consistent updates as well as made accommodations – such as online services, a new academic concern form, and a changed grading policy – as students have expressed problems. For example, as concerns arose about webcams needing to be on during exams, a policy was created and the problem was promptly addressed. To sum it up, Stevens has adapted.
As a stark contrast, my brother goes to a community college near me. The school took two whole weeks to get everything ready for online classes. There is no live lecture, no exam accommodations, and no changes to the grading policy. They’re operating as if nothing changed. The college has not adapted.
Even if the media is exaggerating some aspects of the virus, everyone needs to adapt to the changes in society. Stevens has adapted very well; I’m happy about that. However, other schools, restaurants, businesses without online infrastructure? That’s not the case.
This virus has been a harsh lesson in adaptation – adapting to a digital world. I’m happy to be on the side of the winners (so far) in that struggle – but it’s not over yet. There’s still at least another month to go in this struggle. Let’s hope that more people aren’t lost, and we get stronger winners out of it all.
Be First to Comment