Transitioning to the Online Environment at Berkeley College
It’s funny how you can really live in a bubble once you create a norm for yourself. My normally scheduled week would consist of attending classes at Woodland Park in the morning, working in the office, and then going home and going to the gym or being with my family or friends. But, then this really unsettling thing called COVID-19 or what we like to refer to as the deadly “coronavirus” started to come about, and has now affected my entire way of norm, along with everyone else I’m surrounded by, and I’m sure you can relate in some way, too.
I find that we all play some type of role in life, whether it’s as a student, an employee, a president, or a healthcare provider. The list goes on and on. With that, we have all been guided to working virtually in our everyday lives, but in the comfort of our own homes in order to keep ourselves safe and healthy, and keep everyone else safe as well, especially at Berkeley College. Berkeley made the decision that all of their students should finish out the last 5 weeks of our semesters all online, and I think that this is a great idea. Already in just one week I have found that I am more productive, more concentrated on my work, all while still being able to interact with my professors and classmates. The resources that students are provided with as everyday are endless here, but now I find myself using them more than ever. For example, we used Zoom for my Public Speaking class and it was really nice to see everyone from my class like we were meeting for class right in our classroom at Woodland Park.
Online learning is a different experience for sure, but the ability to learn the way we would in the real classroom is not stunted at all at Berkeley. We are lucky to have the platform we have to work on our education, further our careers, and “Be proud” of what we have accomplished. If you look around Berkeley campuses you’ll see that there are different “Be” statements around that represent a positive characteristic of what we set out to be, and we have them online as well. I think in a time like this, “Be brave,” “Be optimistic,” and “Be focused” are three that stick out the most in a time where we may need positivity more than ever. Although it may be hard to find that focus you feel you may usually have when in the classroom, this is a temporary adjustment, and we are in this together! So go ahead, still “Be brave,” “Be optimistic,” and “Be focused,” because at the end of the day, that is what being a Berkeley College student is all about.
