The Challenges of the New Normal

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Talking to my colleagues and my clients across different campuses, I’m hearing that the Fall 2021 academic term is a very mixed blessing. I’m sharing some of the disappointments and frustrations not so much as a downer–it’s important to ground ourselves in the positive–but as a signal to any who might think, “It’s just me–I should be able to deal with this.” 

It’s not just you. This term was supposed to be where we had some realistic hope that things would be back to normal with classes, friends. We expected things would be just like they were before. 

Well, they’re not. Here’s what I’m hearing. See if any of these sound familiar to you:

  • I thought it would be easier to schedule my time when I was on campus. It’s not. Time is chewed up just getting to campus–and money, too.
  • It’s great to get out of the house every day.
  • I got used to having breaks between ZOOM classes. Now I have to race to get from one end of campus to the other in the ten minutes between classes.
  • Some classes are hybrid, and I have to decide whether to make the effort to get to the physical class, or to be a bit of a ghost presence online.
  • I can relax with my friends, shoot the sh*t after class with classmates.
  • I liked how everyone had a chance to participate if they wanted to in online classes–it’s harder for me to put my hand up in front of everyone in the classroom than it was to use the hands-up icon. And somehow, professors get around to everyone with their hand up in an online class, instead of just the extrovert class stars.
  • It’s good to be able to go up to the prof after class–different from staying online after a ZOOM class and not as intimidating as meeting in their office.
  • I felt I was part of the class when we were all online. I feel like a second-class student online in hybrid classes. Especially since I’m online because of a disability.
  • All my exams up to now have been online plus maybe even open-book and untimed. I didn’t do so well on my midterms and quizzes so far this term. Not looking forward to finals.
  • Girls.
  • The rules keep changing. I have one prof who doesn’t do anything online but slides. For all of the discussion you have to be in the classroom. A different department has web-based classes only, not just this term, but next term as well. And this can all change.
  • Labs. I didn’t take any labs last year and am catching up.
  • My friends are pretty casual about wearing masks and social distancing when we’re not  actually in class. I don’t like being the only masked geek around a coffee table, so I often make an excuse not to go for coffee. Or I compromise and take comfort that we’re all probably vaccinated, and probably no one is at that breakthrough, no symptoms stage. Or I try not to think about it.
  • I’m afraid to travel to class and to be in classes and seminars even fully vaccinated and wearing an N95 mask. I know about asymptomatic breakthrough and contagion and have vulnerable people at home.
  • I am afraid of COVID for myself.
  • I’m frustrated that everything we know keeps changing and sometimes the rules don’t seem to have much to do with what we do know.
  • I’m really angry with people who needlessly put others at risk and ignore the science.
  • My prof has been able to connect me with co-op–a real boon for my post-grad career.

Wow!. What a mix! The grass is obviously not always greener on this side of the COVID fence! There’s fear, frustration, anger, and sometimes hopelessness about being able to deal with ongoing unpredictable uncertainty, mixed with the enjoyment of social live interaction. There’s also potential academic and career benefit from live interaction.

One student has said that we’re not going to get back to normal or even a new normal–we’re going to have to deal with continuing new abnormals, and that’s not our preferred deal with the universe.

I wanted to share these perspectives with you this week. In the coming week,  I’m going to be reflecting on ways to deal, ways to cope. I’ll share those next week. In the meantime, enjoy well-deserved reading days.

We have this: You have carried it this far. It hasn’t always been fun, but . . . you have done it! And you can carry on! See you next week, and contact me with how it’s going on your campus [email protected]