During the last half of the Spring 2020 semester, Utica College had switched in-person classes to online classes due to the coronavirus. There have been more and more cases within the world and New York with many people dying from the virus since that decision. Utica College did what they could to keep everybody safe and slow the spread of COVID so nobody would get the virus from being at school!
When I first heard about UC switching to online classes, I was shocked. I was beginning to think online classes were going to be a problem for me with some of my classes and things were going to be very different. Some of my classes were going to be difficult regarding presentations, performances, attendance, and class participation. Additionally, I worried about finances regarding my paychecks for my job on campus and what I had left on my meal plan. Luckily, payroll was able to mail my checks to me and my meal plan got refunded.
My professors spent a lot of time over spring break to get our classes ready for online. While we were spending the remainder of the semester online, everybody including myself, my friends, and my professors were getting mad about being online instead of in person. My classes for the Spring 2020 semester did the following to keep the semester going online:
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Oral Interpretation – Performance scripts, one lecture on Engage regarding performing arts, and one open book/note midterm.
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Career Strategy – Voiceover lectures from PowerPoint, virtual mock interviews, and career presentations.
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UCTV – Short quizzes regarding studio work and show productions, class discussions regarding class shows. Everything was posted on Google Classroom.
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Sociology Theory – Class discussion on readings using Google Docs, and a final project regarding famous theorist’s theoretical framework.
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Algebra – Class homework, tests, and exams on MyMathLab.
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Cultures, Health and Healing – Lectures on VoiceThreads and responding to at least two discussion questions, and a final research paper.
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New York History – Weekly meetings on Zoom, 3 out of 4 field trips canceled, did some compendiums regarding some class readings, and a final paper.
After going through an overwhelming, frustrating, and stressful semester I was happy that the semester was over. A few days after the last day of finals, I checked my final grades on BannerWeb and saw that I ended up with three A-‘s, three A’s, and one B that put my semester GPA at 3.66 which finally put me on the Dean’s List for the first time! My overall GPA went up twenty points from 2.55 to 2.75. I never would have thought I was going to succeed with classes being online instead of in person!
In my opinion, I would prefer in-person classes, that way I would be able to see my friends and professors on campus. In-person classes keep everyone active, instead of sitting 24/7. I was saying to myself at one point during online classes, “If I have to do online classes again next semester, I will be very mad!” One of my professors said they were gonna be the same way too. I am really hoping I don’t have to do online classes again since it is not the best education for me.