Editor’s Note: All photos are contributed by the interviewee.

Collin Mckenna (he/him)

Second-year student in forest management

“It’s been a hard one. I’ve had to really start using planners and lists and stuff. And it’s made being accountable to my lab partner harder just because I’m not seeing him in person. It’s easy to just avoid work if I wanted to. It’s been a hard adjustment. I mostly study at my house but I’ve been able to go to Peavy Hall on the Oregon State University campus, that’s the new forestry building, and use the computer labs there for one of my classes, which has been very nice.”

Madeline Griffin (she/her)

Senior student in business management and human resources

“I feel like I’ve adjusted fairly well because I did take a mixture of e-campus classes throughout my college career, so I think that allowed me to adjust, but it has made teamwork a little more difficult because of the distance and being all virtual and there’s a lot of disconnect, I feel like. And there can be communication issues if they’re overseas and you have to communicate with them through some other channel other than iMessage or something. Like, in one of my groups, we communicated solely through email so that created a lot of miscommunication between some people, especially if they weren’t doing reply all on the emails. I primarily study in my room. I used to study at the library a lot but, because of COVID-19, it’s made it difficult.”

Susannah Rinke (she/her)

Senior student in business administration

“It’s definitely been a tough adjustment. In the beginning I really struggled with keeping focus on my online classes, but I found different tactics I could do to have better focus on my classes and not be distracted in my studying. I try to go outside of my room some of the times [to study] just to not be so distracted in my room. If I have my bed around or some of the objects on my desk, I tend to lose focus on my classes and studying, so I found being outside my room and in the kitchen or living room is the best.”

Mayra Trujillo (she/her) 

Third-year student in marketing with an organizational leadership minor

“I feel like I’m still adjusting to [online learning]. It’s so difficult because, in the beginning, I had such a good routine but as the workload kept coming, it just became more difficult. And then you have computer fatigue from sitting by your laptop all day and then, on top of that, you have homework. So adjusting wise, I guess I built a routine, but that slowly came to shambles [winter] term especially. I usually study in my room or in the living room. I stay in my house most of the time. I don’t really go outside or to different places because everything’s closed. Sometimes I go on walks during classes.”

Julia Johnston (she/her)

Second-year student in biology with an option in genetics, and chemistry and statistics minors

“It’s certainly been an adjustment. I would say, for me, I personally like it a little better just because I do things… I don’t know if at my own pace is the right word, but sometimes during in-person lecture, I would struggle with keeping up with the notes on the board and then there would be this whole thing to write down and then they would just erase it and then I’m like, ‘I have half of it,’ you know. 

And then I couldn’t find those notes anywhere else. So, in that sense, I like it. Although, I would say I feel like the instruction is not as good… In a way, I feel like some professors are really hands off, like, here’s what I have for you and good luck. For remote classes, usually [I study] in my apartment because I’m trying to be really careful with COVID-19. Unless I’m at work, I’m in my apartment.”

Kara Nagato (she/her)

First-year student in accounting and finance

“Well, my high school experience got cut short. Essentially, they were supposed to do online learning, but then they just didn’t. So, my only experience with college is doing online learning so it’s been pretty good. It’s hard to stay motivated, but I’m glad we’re in the trimester schedule where it’s ten weeks and then you get a reset to find motivation again for the next term… It’s hard to find friends, too.

I feel like I could have made more social connections by being in class, sitting next to people, and interacting whereas, on Zoom, it’s a lot more to keep to yourself. Like, breakout rooms are honestly terrible. So even when that’s there to try and promote students forming relationships, everyone is just cameras off, muted, and doing work by themselves. Where, if you were face to face, it’s a lot harder to ignore each other… I try to study in my room but, recently, I’ve been finding it more productive to be at Austin Hall because that is just an open space. I would go to the library, however, you have to make reservations, but Austin Hall, you can just go there and sit and maybe meet other people. Mainly business students but it’s open to everyone.”

Jasmeen Kaur (she/her)

Senior student in finance and management with an option in entrepreneurship

“It was a challenging aspect especially being on campus last year. That transition to online was really different because we don’t have that classroom setting. We have to utilize and find our own space in the house or wherever we are studying. It was difficult at first finding the right environment. I just found a room in my house, where I study the whole time. But if I want to change the environment, I’ll probably just go to another room or a different house. But it’s really hard, I’ll say. Especially not having that interaction with the professors or your classmates. I study in my room actually, where it’s peaceful and quiet. But sometimes the internet problem comes up where I don’t have Wi-Fi.”

Isabella Welsh (she/her)

Senior student in public health with a nutition minor

“I think, at first, it was a little difficult but just by utilizing resources like emailing my professors and reaching out to different members in my class using the people’s tab on Canvas and everything like that has made it a lot more manageable just to feel more comfortable reaching out to people. I usually study at my house, either in my living room or at my desk in my room.”

Charlotte Lue (she/her)

Third-year student in finance

“Prior to COVID-19, I didn’t have much experience taking classes online. I actually tried to avoid online classes because I found they gave me too much freedom to decide when to “attend” lectures. Adjusting to online learning, I’ve found it really helpful to intentionally set time aside every day to study. I schedule my study time around my part-time job, which has helped me to establish a consistent routine. I always go to class, start assignments early, remember to take breaks, and overall, just do the best I can. I mostly study at the kitchen table. I have a desk in my room as well but find it hard to focus there.”

Tuyet To (she/her) 

Third-year student in accounting with a psychology minor

“I think I would need more flexibility from my professors and, so far, they have done that for me. There is more material that’s posted and more practice… And just talking about around one month or a couple weeks ago, when the electricity was just gone, a lot of professors had to reschedule and extend due dates for us. 

So, I do need that flexibility. And so far, one of the big changes… about remote learning is that I need to keep myself motivated. Because we have the option to attend class or not. We could just hop on Zoom then go to sleep. So I have to keep myself motivated during the lecture. And then even after class, to work on an assignment by myself is extremely hard. What I do so far is that I stick to my goal. 

What I want to do this term… And also, just using the calendar on my phone to plug in the time to what I should do today. Or at least have a written note of my daily tasks. By doing that and just crossing [off] when I’m done gives me motivation to keep doing it. So for my classes, I study in my room, just right here on my desk. 

Sometimes maybe on my bed if I’m unable to get up. For doing homework… sometimes I will go campus. I will stick with the SLUG, it’s the Honors student lounge. I like to study there; it’s quiet and it’s a nice place to study.”