FINAL PROJECT — The Adverse Effects of COVID-19 on College and University Students
INTRODUCTION
The most challenging part that the COVID-19 pandemic has brought with it has been the excessive stress and anxiety. Students are facing increased levels of anxiety not only due to the illness itself, but from stress surrounding online learning, job insecurity, housing insecurity, food insecurity, and homelessness. Additionally, some students do not have the proper resources to access online learning such as internet and laptops. Many students come to college and universities to escape poverty, but the pandemic has made it difficult for that dream to be achieved. (Casey, 2020 & Gandbhir, 2019). Even students who are financially secure are experiencing stressors from the shift to an all-online learning curriculum.
For this project I documented this semester and the testament of others. I chronicled myself from October 12th, 2020 through December 11th a total of 18 times. The goal was to detail how I was engaging with my classes during the pandemic. I wrote about the successes and struggles I had in that time with personal finances, work completion, motivation, and learning passion.
The second part of my analysis comes from interviewing classmates. For this project I interviewed two students at Temple University. The students asked for their actual names not be used. I replaced their names with pseudonyms to honor their discretion.
SELF-REFLECTION
Reviewing my journal entries, I found that I became increasingly jaded in my work efforts as the semester went along. I still have a passion for learning, but I think the length of the pandemic is finally starting to get to me. I feel as if the pandemic is stifling my opportunities as a student to engage socially as well as participate in internships. My levels of anxiety and depression about the future have also increased.
Due to the pandemic, my work hours have been cut. On December 5th, 2020, my hours have currently been cut down to twice a week. I argued with my employer about how this would make my living conditions unstable, but my supervisor shrugged off my request to remain on the schedule. I work in paratransit, an ambulance-service that brings people to doctors’ appointments. Given how the pandemic has spiked in fatality rates, doctors’ appointments have become sparse. My hours have been cut because less people are going to appointments right now. I plan on getting another job or internship when finals end.
I am currently living with my Dad and Grandmother. Thankfully, none of us have become sick from the virus; however, my mother and two of my very close friends have come down with Covid 19. In November, my Mother become ill with the virus. She was violently ill for a matter of 4 days; she bounced back in 2 weeks and is now healthy with some minor loss in taste. My two close friends and their family came down with virus just as recent as last on Dec. 6th. The people around me getting sick has increased the legitimacy of the virus. Before my friends and family started getting sick, I was hanging out with friends often and not being cautious. I now have not seen many of my friends in a month, which is definitely increasing my feelings of isolation. I am attempting to remain strong, but it is difficult, nonetheless.
INTERVIEWS
The first student’s name is Maria. She is a third year English major who lives in Philadelphia. She had recently transferred from the Community College of Philadelphia to Temple University. The second student’s name is Sam who is third year Political Science major at Temple University. Sam is originally from Delaware County but is currently living in off-campus housing with several friends.
1. MARIA
The student Maria became concerned when she became unmotivated in her classes. Maria admitted that she is “motivated for some classes” and others not “depending on the professor”. I asked Maria what she meant by her levels of passion and she stated the following:
I have a continued passion for learning but the pandemic just making everything super stressful. I am trying to stay in engaged but online is difficult, I get really distracted. -Maria
Maria states that she is struggling to stay organized during online learning as well.
Maria says that her finances have not personally been affected by the pandemic, but the pandemic affected some her family members. Maria mentioned that her Aunt had to leave work in order to take care of her children’s schooling during the pandemic. While Maria is not personally struggling, she realizes how the pandemic is affecting the lives of both strangers and loved ones. Maria says that she feels “personally stressed” for her family members who have had to take salary cuts and make serious financial adjustments because of the pandemic. Maria is currently not working and receiving unemployment. She is living with family and generally feels secure in her finances.
Maria felt like many of the professors did a good job adjusting to online classes. While Maria would rather have classes in person, she understands that staying at home is helping to “keep the city safe” from COVID-19. Maria generally thought professors were understanding and lenient in terms of assignments given everyone’s unique situation during the pandemic.
2. SAM
The student Sam was distressed by the lack of the administration’s organization heading into this semester. Sam talked specifically about the trouble getting in contact with advisors and getting internship meetings set-up. Sam says he is given up on trying to find work for this semester in the form of internships and has put work “on the backburner for this semester”. Sam mentions that the most stressful thing he has experienced this semester is his inability to find a job. Sam is currently receiving unemployment; he says it covers the majority of his living and housing expenses.
Sam felt like the University “did not have good communication with professors”. Furthermore, Sam had classes that were supposed to be conducted on specific days, but some professors cut meetings down to once a week. For example, Sam had several classes that were supposed to be conducted Monday, Wednesday, and Friday but class meetings were cut down to just Fridays. Sam mentions that he had struggles staying focused during online class. Despite Sam’s struggles he stayed motivated to participate in class. Sam says that some of students gave up on participating in online work and classes, but he did not let it “define his semester”. Sam thinks that professors “adjusted well towards the end of the semester” and were generally understanding of the challenges of online learning that students faced.
I asked Sam to reflect on how the pandemic is affecting his social life. Sam says that he is able to hang out with his roommates during this pandemic. Making new friends is hard for him this semester, but he has accepted this given the current state of the world. Sam does not expect much to change leading into next semester. He does not expect for classes to return to normal until “everyone is vaccinated” “around next fall”.
ANALAYSIS
The reflection of the personal testaments I have gathered shows that the main concern with schooling during the pandemic comes with staying focused, motivated and on task. Both Maria and Sam feel stressed like I do and wish for a return to normalcy in class structures but are aware of the health concerns of COVID-19 when coming in contact with large groups of people. Maria felt the professors and University were doing a lot to help students succeed during the pandemic. Sam felt relatively similar but believes that the initial implementation of online programs and contacting advisors proved to be more difficult than it was in previous semesters.
Relevant research shows that anxiety and stress has increased during the pandemic. According to the Hope Center, which surveyed from April 20th to May 15th of 2020, that 49% and 52% of students experienced moderate to severe anxiety due to the pandemic at two-year and four-year institutions: respectively (Goldrick-Rab, et al., 2020). The personal testaments from Sam, Maria, and myself similar correlate with this feeling of anxiety and stress surrounding the pandemic. On the same survey, 50% and 63% of students said they could not concentrate on school at two-year and four-year institutes: respectively (Goldrick-Rab, et al., 2020). For one reason or another, students are finding it hard to concentrate on schooling during the pandemic. For myself, it has to do with distractions inside the house. In both my interviews with Sam and Maria they said they had difficulty concentrating as well, but had a hard time elaborating on their reasons other than stating that online classes are not the same as in person.
Something that was not well covered in my interviews, but I know is problematic from research is the increased struggle of impoverished students not having access to food, housing, and internet resources. The people that I interviewed were fortunate enough to come from financially stable families.
According to Hope Center, between April 20th and May 15th, about 44% and 38% are experiencing food insecurity at two-year institutions and four-year institutions; respectively (Goldrick-Rab, et al., 2020). Similarly, 11% of students at two-year institutions and 15% at four-year institutions experienced homelessness (Goldrick-Rab, et al., 2020). Basic needs insecurity includes homelessness, food insecurity, and housing insecurity. This saw that 58% of all participants in the survey were suffering from a of basic needs insecurity (Goldrick-Rab, et al., 2020). When students have to worry about external factors such as food, housing, and resource insecurity it becomes harder for students to focus (Whitworth, Cyr, & Paik, 2020 & Casey, 2020). In a documentary entitled Hungry to Learn directed by Geeta Gandbhir, the experiences of students in college and University struggling with food and housing insecurities is discussed. A young woman named Shaquara Peters, a third-year student from Lehman University testifies her struggles with food insecurity in the documentary. Her statement is as follows:
There are actually days where I only eat a piece of bread; I usually just feel tired. Being a nutrition student, I have learned that I should not be doing that, but then it’s still hard because you never know when your next meal is gonna come. — Shaquara Peters
Shaquara Peters situation is a microcosm of the food, housing, and resource insecurity that students face on daily basis. College tuition costs have been on the rise for many years due to collimation of state disinvestment, increases in the cost of living increases, transportation, housing, and many other financial factors that making college less affordable for a majority of students (Goldrick-Rab, Paying the Price; Pre-Publication, 2016).
Students are also struggling to receive the proper technology for schooling this semester. According the Hope Center, 11% of students at two-year institutions and 7% at four-year did not have a functional laptop (Goldrick-Rab, et al., 2020). 13% of two-year and 14% of four-year students did not have access to internet (Goldrick-Rab, et al., 2020). In an online learning environment, internet connection and a functional laptop is required for learning. If facilities are to remain closed the percentage of the student population with a functioning laptop or internet must be accounted for.
CONCLUSION
Online learning has proven to be a struggle for many. There have been difficulties in concentration, increased levels of stress and anxiety, and generally not enjoying online classes as much as in-person learning. Many students face resource insecurity as well as job insecurity, food insecurity, housing insecurity, and homelessness. The pandemic has brought many attributes of resource insecurity that college students face to the forefront of attention. Students in college are struggling now more than ever in terms of stress, regardless of where that source of stress is coming from.
This paper was meant to examine the current predicaments of online learning in college and Universities as well as bring awareness to impoverished students suffering from resource insecurity. I hope that this documentation was informative.
References
Casey, N. (2020, April 4). College Made Them Feel Equal. The Virus Exposed How Unequal Their Lives Are. Retrieved from The New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/04/us/politics/coronavirus-zoom-college-classes.html?referringSource=articleShare
Gandbhir, G. (Director). (2019). Hungry to Learn [Motion Picture].
Goldrick-Rab, S. (2016). Paying the Price; Pre-Publication. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Goldrick-Rab, S., Coca, V., Kienzl, G., Welton, C. R., Dahl, S., & Magnelia, S. (2020). #RealCollege During the Pandemic. The Hope Center For College Community and Justice, 1–23.
Whitworth, T., Cyr, C., & Paik, A. (2020). Remotely Coping: How are Students Faring During the Covid-19 Pandemic? Retrieved from Contexts: https://contexts.org/blog/education-under-covid-19/#cyr
