The virtual education experience through the eyes of students
As Fresno State finishes up its first fully-virtual semester and prepare for another in Spring, two students from different fields share their journeys in online learning.
The civil engineer
Fresno State student Sonny Westmoreland was denied multiple times to the Civil Engineering Program and was ready to change paths. Fast forward to this online transition due to COVID he is a straight-A student. Now he gives his online semester C+.
As a student he only gets to do this once, and he would have preferred it not to be over a screen. Labs are such an essential part of his career and watching videos of them is not the same.
Through the challenges, he has also seen the benefits of online classes. They allow him more flexibility to work his life around his schooling. It saves him time in commuting and he can quickly jump to the next thing on his list. If it wasn’t for Zoom, he would not have discovered the power of working together with his classmates.
“In person, I’m wanting to go to the library and do my work on my own, compared to on Zoom everyone is just trying to keep in touch with each other and been like let’s meet on Zoom, let’s all get in a meeting and just work on this assignment together. And I just think it’s so much easier that way,” Westmoreland said.
He also gives credit to his professors to be finishing off this semester strong. If it was tough on the student, it had to be just as tough for them.
The ceramic artist
Making ceramics is a process. The equipment needed can range from big machinery to small wooden shaper tools. Art major Ada Mint went through many challenges this semester to be able to get her projects done. She gives this online semester an overall grade of a B-.
A throwing wheel is a major piece of equipment that helps build and form that smooth surface onto the ceramic piece but without it, she felt like her creations were limited.
She was able to buy the smaller simple tools to help her get the job done. Usually, all of the tools would be provided in the classroom. She credits her professor for all the guidance, allowing her to be proud of what she was able to create despite the challenges.
“She tried her best to do everything and that is why I am taking her again because I love her criticism, I love her feedback everything to help me grow as an artist,” Mint said.
This artist hopes that next time around she will be able to be in the ceramics classroom and focus on the art and not on the computer screen.
