It’s been a week since Memorial resumed in-person learning.
No question — it’s yet another adjustment in the two years since COVID-19 upended the teaching and learning environment here. But there are some students who are raring to go and couldn’t be happier to walk down the halls, study in the library and meet friends for coffee. Meet a couple of them below!
Will Goodridge
Why are you happy to be back on campus?
The feeling of being in a real classroom attending a live lecture is just so much better than looking at a bunch of blank squares on a Zoom or Webex meeting. You are there with your friends and fellow classmates and you are more focused (in my experience) than you are in an online class.
What does in-person learning mean to you?
In-person learning for me is the truest form of learning. It is where you develop lasting connections with both your professors and classmates. This simply cannot be achieved to the same degree in an online-only environment.
What are you looking forward to most this semester?
To be completely honest, I am most looking forward to the end of the semester as it is my final one. I am very excited to (hopefully) graduate in May of this year. It has been an amazing five years at MUNL, but I am excited to graduate and see what the future holds.
Katherine Dibbon
Why are you happy to be back on campus?
School is truly about community and working together to make it a place that students love and want to be. There is an energy on campus that motivates and excites me. After a full year of online learning, I now have great connections to my faculties and am involved with various student groups and societies. This excites me and being back on campus strengthens my passion for involvement on campus.
What does in-person learning mean to you?
While I love online learning, there is nothing better than the liveliness of campus. In-person learning has allowed me to reconnect with friends and professors, and provides the opportunity for spontaneous connections and debates in the classrooms and hallways of campus. It can get lonely in your basement watching pre-recorded lectures, so I am happy to be back.
What are you looking forward to most this semester?
Memorial is known for its amazing community, and I am so happy to be back in the heart of it on campus. I am taking some pretty cool courses and I am delighted to be able to interact with fellow students and continue the conversation after class. Some things, you just can’t replicate over email.
Pajani Soobrayen
Why are you happy to be back on campus?
I’m happy to be back on campus because it is my last semester and I want to be with my friends. I want to be with my professors. I want to be able to walk in the hallways and wave at friends, just to get the university life, the campus life, one last time before I graduate. I really like the energy on campus and just the thrill of waking up, getting ready, putting on some nice clothes if you want and going to campus is something that can make you very happy every day. For me, it’s mainly experiencing the vibrant campus life at Memorial.
What does in-person learning mean to you?
I personally prefer in person learning over online classes because I’m someone who likes to engage in class, and I assimilate more material when I’m learning in class and I don’t get distracted by my phone or my computer. After having studied a couple of semesters online, I feel like even the professors are more comfortable in class. Everybody can just go with the flow, there are no technical issues and everybody gets to see everyone’s face. You can walk up to the prof and ask a question after class. There is no need to schedule a Zoom meeting. Or just knock on their door during their office hours, it’s much more simple.
What are you looking forward to most this semester?
I’m mostly looking forward to just being physically back on campus, walking through the hallways, going to see my professors, seeing my friends, and of course seeing the lovely people at the Student Experience Office. I didn’t want my last semester to end on my couch at home wondering, is it over now and what happens next? I am a very social person. I’ve been talking to some first years and second years as well and the biggest problem is the fact that it’s difficult to make friends online. You can just tap someone on the shoulder in class and ask a question if you were absent or if you missed some notes. But with online learning there’s more steps — find that person in the class list and send them a message. Right now, I’m in my last class and I’m still surrounded with people with whom I took my first ever class at Memorial. Those amazing people will follow you along in your university life journey and going back on campus is a way to ensure that everyone gets a chance at this.
