In the spring semester of the 2019-2020 school year, COVID-19 made its introduction into the lives of many around the world, impacting not only the workplace and home life, but schools and those attending them. When UNH went on spring break in March of 2020, they extended the break for an extra two weeks to give everyone time to social distance before returning to campus. Unfortunately, those two weeks turned into a Stay-At-Home order in New Hampshire, which brought classes to an online format that everyone was completely new to. As a freshman studying music performance, I was absolutely terrified of how the remote learning would affect my studies and whether or not I’d be able to finish off the school year from home. Although I trusted my professors and fellow music majors, I was also aware that studying ear training over a Zoom call wasn’t necessarily a task that most would be excited to take on. However, as the days went on, my professors worked hard with myself and my classmates to make sure our needs were being met in such a difficult time, adjusting the curriculum to accommodate every student involved. From learning how to play piano through zoom calls to pre-recorded ear training lectures, each of my classes figured out the best way to continue instruction online. Overall, the University was quite helpful in the transition, and I am incredibly grateful for all of the accommodations that were offered and the patience that was given through each new learning curve.
As students, we were given many opportunities to help improve our grades and GPA during this period. One of those opportunities was the option to switch the grading system for our classes to a Pass/Fail system, which wouldn’t affect our GPA at all but would still count towards our credits. I f ound this option to be incredibly helpful, especially in one of my discovery courses that I wasn’t doing so well in. I had opted to take a Philosophy course during the spring semester to cover my Humanities credit, and while I was very excited for the class, I realized that it was not my forte. Personally, I struggled quite a bit to wrap my head around the topics that we discussed, especially once classes went remote and I was relying purely on readings and pre-recorded lectures. Luckily, I found my groove in the class and pulled through in the end, but I was very grateful to have the Pass/Fail option as a back-up if I didn’t feel secure in the outcome of that class being moved online.
Admittedly, I wasn’t quite psyched to have to transition to an online format to finish off my freshman year at UNH, but not only did I finish off the year strong, I also got to walk away with the unique experience of having taken in-person college courses online and doing well. Having this new experience under my belt has improved not only my computer skills, but my online presence and ability to reach out whenever I may need help. I grew a significant amount through the remote learning experience, which I never would’ve expected to happen, but I’m ever so grateful for that.
