By Nate Martinez
Fall is right around the corner, and you know exactly what that means: it’s time to bust out those new shoes, strap on that overpriced JanSport backpack and make your way from your bed straight to the couch to log on to your zoom class.
In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, there will be no face-to-face classes at Pima for the rest of the year. Many of us will miss seeing our old friends to study with and the face to face time with instructors that many students utilize to ensure they get the best grade possible.
But is the absence of face to face classes at Pima Community College such a bad thing?
A survey was given by the Aztec Press to three randomly selected students. They were asked if the transition to fully virtual learning was either positive of negative and why.
Then they were asked the follow up question: “Do you believe Pima should go back to face to face learning?”
Basi Levy, a Liberal Arts major, thinks this is a positive change due to her being an immunocompromised person.
“I do not think that Pima should go back to in person classes right now because I and many other individuals who are high risk would not be able to comfortably return to an in person class setting right now,” Levy says.
“Virtual classes have positively affected me because it relieves the stress from COVID-19, and the stress that comes with being in large groups in confined spaces,” says Max Cohen, a UArizona student majoring in Creative Writing and taking courses at Pima. “It also doesn’t hurt that I don’t have to leave my apartment to go to class. I don’t think Pima should return to in person classes until COVID-19 is dealt with properly and we have a vaccine for it. The risk just isn’t worth it.”
Marisol Hernandez, a Childhood Education major, feels as though the switch has been both positive and negative.
“The positive is that I still am able to continue the path to get my degree,” Hernandez says. “But the negative is attempting to focus is really hard. I have a very short attention span and physically joining class forces me to keep track. Lastly, I don’t think it’s a good idea [to return to in person learning] just yet because the first and second times where places opened up, the count for the infected ended up shooting up. I say better to be safe than sorry. I miss school a bunch. I loved going in and out of campus but in these times it’s just not safe.”
For the most part, it seems students are still in good cheer. It is very fortunate that we are a generation who lives in an era that is flooded with technology. A pandemic hit and we are still given the option to continue our academic careers with our goals still aimed high and our eyes glued to a monitor.