Hey everyone! So at this point, I’m sure a huge amount of you guys have probably started online classes. For me, it’s only been around a month of online college, but I have somehow already found a way to milk the situation for blog content!
So today I’m going to be talking about some of the most annoying things about doing classes online. Once again, this is only after a month, so I’m sure that by next month I’ll have many more annoying things to tell you guys about. So there might be a second part to this post!
Lets get started!
1. They assume you’re begging for ways to fill time
Is it just me, or does anyone else get the feeling that our professors feel the need to make sure that we’re occupied 24 hours a day? It’s like they just assume that because we’re stuck at home that we don’t have anything else to do. I mean…we don’t have anything better to do, but they shouldn’t assume!
A few weeks ago we had to do, “Online Interactive Yoga.” Now, as much as I love working out, I have my limits. Getting dressed up, putting on my sneakers, and exercising in front of 300 people on a Zoom call is just about the point where I say enough is enough.
It’s not that I don’t like yoga- I’ll do yoga sometimes whenever I don’t feel like running on the treadmill. The only reason why I wasn’t happy about this particular session was because it was compulsory.
I like to think of myself as a hypocritical rebel. I pretty much follow the rules without even thinking about it, and I’ll do certain things because I love to do them; but as soon as I feel like it’s expected of me, I immediately develop an attitude.
The other day, I had a professor ask me to do a 55 hour online course within a week. The justification behind this decision was that we were at home anyways, and that it wouldn’t take more than 3 hours. Fifty-five hours of work…in three hours?
Give us time to breathe please.
2. Missing out on important experiences.
Almost every single movie to have ever existed shows at least one scene of a college student enjoying campus life. From parties, to meeting new people, to seeing new places; it just feels like we’re missing out on so much.
I mean, of course we could always experience these things once campuses begin to open up again, but there’ll never be another first day of college, you know? The hundreds of zoom calls that are being used to try to make up for these missed opportunities are programmed with good intentions, but end up being just as frustrating.
3. When professors insist on keeping your camera on
When they keep asking you turn your camera on, but you’ve just rolled out of bed and you look like you’ve been homeless for the past few years.
So you lie and say, “Sorry, but my camera isn’t working!” Your teacher has heard this hundreds of times before and knows you’re lying.
I mean… I am lying, but it hurts that you don’t believe me!
Rant Time.
Seriously, students should at least be entitled to the smallest increment of privacy wherein we aren’t forced to show our face and personal home environment to a relatively huge amount of people.
Some teachers even threaten to remove students from their classes if they don’t turn their camera on.
In a year where almost everything in our lives leads to anxiety and stress, don’t add more because of a camera.
4. Your inner narcissist
In normal, day-to-day life, we look in the mirror before we leave the house, and that’s pretty much it. We aren’t able to see ourselves as we go around living life.
However, in an online class, not only are we extremely aware of the fact that we are being watched by so many people; but we get to look at ourselves for hours on end.
So we are unwillingly that much more aware and conscious of how we look- which can (at least in my experience) lead to us being much more meticulous about our appearances. Especially since you can only impress from the neck up.
I mean…unless you’re doing online yoga!
5. I feel like I’m sort of going blind…?
The screen- time is seriously affecting my vision! Classes are online. Assignments are online. Socialising is online. Entertainment is online.
I’m not even going to sit here and pretend like closing your laptop and reducing your screen time is an option- because it simply isn’t anymore. Our eyes will just have to get used to the digital abuse.
If I could offer any sort of advice, go for a walk and remind yourself that nature exists outside of a Youtube video and computerised LED pixels.
6. Wait, am I on mute though?
Before I join, the app asks me if I want to be muted.
Once I join, I double check to make sure that I’m on mute.
Before I make any sort of sound, I double check, once again, to make sure that I’m on mute.
I, for the fourth time, carefully inspect the red line that signifies that I’m on mute.
However, my brain keeps telling me that the software is glitching and that my entire class can hear me scrolling through Instagram Reels. Why.
Zoom and Google Meet should have an option to double, double check that you’re on mute. I would definitely pay extra for that!
Just kidding I don’t have any money.
I’m so sorry that this article is this negative- but that’s just how I’m feeling at the moment!
I’m sure most of you can relate too. Coronavirus has changed our lives completely, and your mental health is probably at an all time low- which is totally understandable. Inevitable almost.
Rest assured that we will be back on campus soon enough. Until then, continue wearing your face masks; and remind yourself that none of this is in any way shape or form, normal.
Thank you for reading!
Check out my last few posts here:
- The Scariest Things That Actually Exist
- borrowed poems from an anonymous- ‘Expressions of Love’ and ‘Experience’
- The Horror of Surveillance
- Pet Peeves
- Happy Panda- Random Blogger Interviews
Until Next Time.
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