Going back to college during a pandemic is just insanity. We are putting our lives at high risk moving back to campus, paying full tuition for Zoom classes and having limited options of fun for campus life. I came back to Richmond because, as a VCUarts student, I had two studio classes in person, and the rest of my classes were online. When it was getting closer to the start of the fall semester back in August, my parents and I had a very long discussion and were deciding if it was best for me to go back to Richmond and attend my classes in person or to speak with my department and have accommodations so I can stay home where I can do my classes from my own bedroom and be safe. In the end, I decided to go back to Richmond.
When I came back, life was not the same. I spend all day in my room in my on-campus apartment doing my online classes from my desk and then getting ready to go to the studio two blocks away to do my in-person classes. I was very nervous about going back, but the VCUarts Department of Fashion did an incredible job of making sure their students are safe. It is a boring life that I am living but at least with my in-person classes, I am able to get outside, take in fresh air (while wearing a mask) and have a chance to get some food too. The projects I had in my studio classes kept me busy enough, so I am spending a good amount of time in the studios instead of being cooped up in my bedroom. I felt like having in-person classes had made it less likely for me to be unmotivated and get off task while I am doing schoolwork. I had taken 14 credits this semester, which is the lowest I have ever taken, compared to the 16 credits I took in the spring of 2020 and 17 credits in the fall of 2019.
I had to think long and hard to see if this was something I wanted to do. Luckily, Business Foundations is being taught online and asynchronously, so I would not have to worry about fitting it into my schedule. With it being the fourth three-credit class I take, I don’t expect it to be busy. Here is why I am deciding to take it on and having 17 credits in the springtime. This is going to sound very odd, but I have the time to take more classes, but at the same time, I don’t have the time. In this odd era of the year, so many things in our society are being twisted and changed due to the pandemic. College is no different. I spend my days doing homework and projects, but there are some big chunks of time where I feel like I have been doing the same assignments over and over again. I wish I had taken another class that was non-fashion or IT related, so I felt like I was not in the same cycle over doing the same work. If I am being forced to still pay full tuition for classes during a pandemic, I might as well take advantage of it!