Community Needs to Return on Campus

Feeling connected can only happen when students are in person, and physically next to one another, rather than vying for a sense of belonging through a screen. When the unease of the last year still lingers, and they hear people refusing to wear masks or social distance, hesitation toward returning is a valid worry. With the state giving out vaccinations to anyone over 16 in California in-person learning is now safe and possible.

Santa Monica College (SMC) President, Dr. Kathryn E. Jeffery, announced on March 15, 2021, that the school will begin to offer in-person courses for the upcoming fall semester. Jeffery states in a Message from the President, that returning to campus is a “dynamic situation,” and if COVID-19 cases increase once classes resume, SMC plans to pivot back to the online format.

“I really miss going to the library and having study groups,” said Orion Young. Young is a postgraduate and a returning SMC student for the fall 2021 semester. “It’s also harder to have your professors remember you. To leave an impression on them on the online format.”

Like Young, many students feel as if on campus school makes them part of a larger community. Whether it's through sports, theatrical arts, clubs, or journalism in the newsroom, classes and activities bring a sense of comfort. It’s harder for those learning over Zoom to bond with their instructors and peers. There are no office hours for students to have a private discussion in person with their professors, because they’re limited to video conferences.

The lack of these emotional bonds, with peers and teachers, only hurts students in a time where quarantine already takes its toll on everyone’s well-being. The CDC website conducted an online survey in June 2020 asking about mental health related to COVID-19. Adults in the U.S. reported an increase in anxiety, depression, and trauma and stressor related disorder symptoms that began as a result of the pandemic. In addition to having normal everyday stress, students can add technical difficulties, a lack of belonging to classes, and unresponsive professors to that strain.

SMC will still offer some online learning this fall for those who are still wary of taking classes in-person and those working full time. The flexibility of the online format makes a lot of sense and is convenient for those living out of state, but having on-campus options offers relief to students that need to have some classes on ground and not through a screen.

The online learning format makes students feel isolated compared to when they are around one another on campus. Going to a physical location provides a sense of solace. There’s an energy that students can feel in a classroom shared by others without the barrier of a repetitive virtual Zoom meeting.