10 THINGS I LEARNED WHEN TAKING ONLINE CLASSES DURING THE PANDEMIC

As another school year begins, many college freshmen are entering a new stage in their life. But, it’s not exactly how they expected it to be. Because of the pandemic, most classes are now online, which is a big adjustment to anyone who has never taken an online course. While they do take more time in some aspects, it is still possible to have a successful term of online school. If you are a college freshman, or anyone who is starting online classes for the first time, here are 10 tips that I learned when taking online courses.

1 | MAKE SURE YOUR DORM ROOM IS COMFY

With a majority of college students starting online courses, it’s important to think about how that will affect your learning and health.

One important aspect to think about is having a cozy and comfortable dorm room.

A majority of your time this next year will be spent within your dorm room.

As you start your classes, you will realize that having a comfy workspace within your room will be essential for a successful term at “zoom university”.

Make sure any chairs you are sitting in have a thick cushion, fill your bed up with lots of pillows, and make sure you buy a mattress topper.

Sitting and sleeping on a hard, box-like mattress is going to make you sore and uncomfortable throughout the term.

Buy a mattress topper, trust me you will regret it if you don’t.

2 | KEEP YOUR SPACE CLEAN

There are studies shown that prove that messy spaces cause stress and discomfort. Keep a clean dorm room this year, cleaner than you usually would.

I know everyone’s idea of a clean space is different, but, as long as you try to maintain a cleaner space than usual, you will reduce the amount of stress you will have.

This tip is especially helpful as you begin to use your dorm room as a workspace.

College is all about good organization and time management. If you can keep up with those two things it will be easier to have a successful year of online courses.

One great way to keep your space clean with minimal work is to buy organizers and storage containers. These can often help keep things in a specific place and hidden away from eye sight.

Another way to keep your space clean is to set aside a playlist of about 30 minutes of music specifically for cleaning.

Use that playlist as a timer on how much time you should take to clean your entire room, that way it’s only taking 30 minutes out of your week and you are motivated by music you like.

3 | SET ASIDE TIME FOR SELF CARE

Being stuck in one place without leaving for a long period of time can actually be very harmful to your mental and physical health if you let it be.

During this time, it’s important that we set aside time to take care and treat ourselves.

One of the biggest things that I have learned from my 3 years of college is that your mental health can dictate how well you do throughout your classes.

So don’t feel bad about taking a couple hours out of your day to do face masks, drink tea, and relax in comfy pajamas.

It is totally okay to put yourself first by making sure that you are healthy and doing okay during this period of time.

4 | GET OUTSIDE

Now, I know this one is hard for some people depending on where you are living, but getting fresh air can help a ton while we are stuck in this pandemic.

Going on a walk or even just studying out on the grass can help clear your mind and make you feel much better.

A lot of the time, dorm rooms can get really stuffy and vitamin D is essential in staying mentally healthy.

As we enter into winter, depending on the state you live in, it becomes very cold, grey, and rainy, and a lot of the times we just want to stay inside.

If this becomes the case, even opening up a window would be a great way to get fresh air.

5 | COMMUNICATE WITH YOUR PROFESSORS

Online classes are much different than in person classes, and sometimes can be much more difficult to get in touch with your professor.

Usually professors have office hours in which you can use to get clarification on your coursework, but online classes often require that you contact your professor first, so it is super important that you don’t feel afraid to communicate to your professor through email.

Just shoot them an email on what you are having trouble with and what questions you have.

Most of the time, they respond fairly quickly and can try their best to explain it in detail during the next lecture.

It is also important to communicate with your professor if you are going through something, having trouble with the pandemic, are struggling to keep up with the coursework, or are struggling with mental health.

You don’t have to go in detail with your professor, but professors are very understanding and will often allow you to turn work in late if you let them know something is going on beforehand.

Just make sure to let them know before the assignment is due.

6 | HAVE A STUDY ROUTINE

With online classes, it is really easy to get distracted and procrastinate work.

Having a regular study routine or habit can make your term much easier and less stressful.

Last term, I had a fairly easy study habit that kept me on top of my work, but still allowed me to have a lot of free time.

I would take all the assignments I had that were due for the week and I would split those assignments into certain days of the week.

I usually had about 7-10 assignments due each week, so each day of the week I would complete about 2.

I did this Monday through Friday, and I always had my weekends off.

Doing this helped me complete the assignments that were given to me without procrastinating it til the last minute.

Often, I would do the assignments that were due earlier in the week first so that I have it all done before the due date.

This also allowed me to correct and resubmit things if I realized something was wrong after I turned in the assignment.

At my university, we use the program CANVAS to submit assignments, and it allows you to resubmit your work for an unlimited amount of times, even after the due date passes.

Make sure to look on your college’s submission program to see what types of options you have for that.

7 | GET FAMILIAR WITH YOUR COLLEGE WEBSITES

Because a majority of the time we will be social distancing and finding resources may take a bit more time.

It helps a lot if you get familiar with your school’s websites.

This includes any programs you will be using to submit assignments, websites that show different resources, and websites or apps that show you your schedule and classes you need to take to graduate.

Get familiar with all of them and take some time to see what they all are for.

At Oregon State University, we use CANVAS for assignment submission, and then we have two different OSU related websites.

One shows you everything to do with paying for college, your required classes, and registering for courses. The other has anything to do with housing and dining.

As a freshman, you will be interacting with all of these resources as many of you are moving onto campus and will be utilizing the dining hall.

Just make sure you know where to go to find these things and reach out to people who are already going to your college if you are unsure what websites your college uses.

8 | 8AMS ARE STILL THE WORST

Getting up for an 8AM before the pandemic was difficult.

As a college student, you will spend a lot of time staying up late, whether that be because of classes or just because you want to.

Sleep becomes much more enjoyable and getting up at 7 in the morning for an 8AM class gets more and more dreadful as the term goes on.

This goes the same for online classes.

You would think it might not be as bad because all you gotta do is wake up, grab your laptop, and sit up in your bed.

But more often than not, you will be way too tired and will end up falling asleep during your class.

I know too many people who have done this and I am guilty of doing this too.

It made it even worse when I woke up in the middle of the class, when everyone was sharing in groups and I had to explain to the professor that I had no idea what was going on because I had fallen asleep… Don’t do that.

If you can, just don’t even make the mistake of taking an 8AM class. They’re not worth it and you will not be as attentive in these classes as you would if they were scheduled later.

9 | INVEST IN BLUE LIGHT GLASSES

Whether you are in college or in elementary school, I highly suggest that you get blue light glasses for this next school year.

A majority of your time throughout the day will be looking at screens and over time your eyes can get strained.

While this may not seem like a big deal, it can make doing work painful and can make you tired easily, even though you aren’t doing anything strenuous.

You can get them on amazon in a pack of 2 or 3 for about $15.

Trust me, they are an essential for the school year, you will not regret buying them.

The last thing you want to be is in pain while you are going through school. It is the absolute worst, so protect yourself so you don’t have to deal with that.

10 | YOU WILL HATE GROUP PROJECTS

I know some colleges are not doing group projects this school year, but if you are a business major like myself you will most likely have one.

I kid you not, 4 out of 5 of my classes last term had group projects, and they were all online classes.

If you go to a big university, there is a possibility that you will work with people from all around the world.

It’s very hard for students in different time zones to attend class and facetime for group projects because often the time zones are opposite of yours.

Group projects are difficult to work on as a group and it’s incredibly hard to communicate with each other efficiently.

If you have any sort of group projects while taking classes online, make sure to create an initial understanding of what you all expect of each other’s work, as you will probably be doing sections by yourself, and ask questions if you have them.

I know that group projects can be intimidating when you first start out college because you’re working with people you know nothing about, but keep an open mind and don’t be afraid to ask a question if you have one.

A lot of the time, someone else in the group has the same question or needs the same clarification.

These projects will be a pain in the ass, but just keep pushing through and don’t procrastinate!

I hope you guys found this helpful. I know that this is a stressful time for a lot of people, especially incoming college freshmen as they are starting a new chapter of their life at such an uncertain time. If you have any questions feel free to DM me on my instagram: @kxitlynhempel. And if you have any recommendations for blog posts please leave a comment. I hope you are all doing okay. We will get through this.