Online Classes and Job Impacts

 I do not think that online learning has provide an equal opportunity for students during Covid. Many people, including myself, require that environment that forces them to focus. Sitting in my bedroom outside of the typical school environment I am used to, I lose all focus and desire to want to participate, let alone do well, in my online courses. The quick communication teachers and students have in the classroom is lost. The relationship they share is also lost which makes students feel like they are alone. 

I do believe that there should be a hardship clause for those students impacted so much by Covid to the extent that they might fail course work. When I say this I do not mean for this to imply to those who can’t focus or those that contract the virus but only have a few days of a sore throat and mild cough. This should only apply to students who have to prioritize taking care of their family, whether it be their sick parents or younger siblings because the parents are no longer able to. This hardship clause should also apply to students that get very sick from Covid and cannot do school for an extended period of time. I think with strict and written out guidelines this can be implemented as fairly as any other rule or law. This clause would have helped out one of my best friends from home. Her mom was very sick and on a ventilator in the hospital and her diabetic dad was also very sick from it. She did not attend online high school for several weeks while taking care of them as well as her two younger siblings. Her grades suffered from this and she did not leave town to go to college in the fall. She stayed home and is taking a few online classes at our community college because she still needs to help her mom out with everyday tasks she could do before getting sick. 

I don’t necessarily think that I will be less competitive in the job market because I am lacking the in-person classes that many countries in Europe and Asia are having. I think that the economy was hit so hard by this virus that many employers will look past our individual experiences with Covid and just hire the help they need even if our GPAs are a little bit lower. I don’t feel as if being stuck at home during school as compared to a classroom will be that detrimental in the large scale of finding a specific job.