Oscar Almonte Espinal

Zoom University, as many like to call it, has taken the fall semester by storm and, as the semester comes to a close, Penn State Abington students are starting to feel the extraneous weight that accompanies remote learning.

Maria Garcia-Morales, a current sophomore at Penn State Abington reports, “This semester, like everybody else, I’m struggling because we are online. After experiencing in-person learning from kindergarten to freshman year of college, out of nowhere we are required to adjust to remote learning. But I’m doing okay and doing the best that I can.”

Amanda Carde, a senior, says, “My classes are not going too good. I do think that us being on Zoom is affecting me really negatively. I think being in-person made me keep up with my assignments more compared to Zoom. It’s definitively been a struggle.”

Compared to in-person learning, students are reporting that Zoom has impacted their performance in their classes. Leith Mohammed, a senior at Penn State Abington says, “I prefer in-person-learning — I’m more attentive and I actually pay attention. If I’m online, I’m not going to lie, I’m at home and I’m just going to fall asleep.”

Understandably, this might sound like excuses to a regular professor but students are actually stating that there are external remote learning factors contributing to their low performance in their classes.

Leith continues to say, “Last semester I had five people living in my house and they are all loud so I couldn’t really concentrate. My mother doesn’t really understand the concept of online learning so she used to walk into my room whenever she wanted. This semester I can actually go to campus and be secluded so I can focus on my classes. So, I would say that this semester is better than last semester.”

Unlike many students, Leith feels comfortable going to campus in the middle of a pandemic so he has access to those solitary spaces on campus.

Amanda Carde says, “I do come to campus here and there. But it is hard because I don’t have reliable transportation to get here, it’s just hard to have everything you really need to succeed. I really just do my homework in my bed most of the time, I don’t really have a space in my living room. It’s becomes really hard to concentrate and just be alert all of the time.

With the semester coming to a close and the campus closing its doors once Thanksgiving Break arrives, Penn State Abington students are not looking forward to conduct everything remotely.

Thankfully, the university recently just announced the option to use alternative grading for those who are being affected by the pandemic. But with such a late decision in the semester, students are worried if in the upcoming, mostly remote Spring 2021 semester there will be the option for alternative grading. Carde states, “alternative grading is my honestly my best friend right now.”