Education in Isolation

Life of a Remote College Student

Written by Alyse Messmer and Photos by Kelsie Stevens

For college students around the globe, getting an education looks very different because of the COVID-19 pandemic. As schools across the country range from offering in-person classes, fully remote classes, or offering on-campus housing for students, California Baptist University has chosen to remain open for the Fall 2020 semester and provide students on-campus housing and dining while they complete their classes fully online. As online classes differ from the usual college class format, students are having to determine what value they place on schooling, if living on campus is worth it and what online schooling looks like for them.

But according to a statement from CBUs President Ronald L. Ellis, even with the changes in class format and health guidelines, CBU had another groundbreaking year of enrollment, totaling 11,317 students in Fall 2020.

The university announced the housing protocols and guidelines students would need to follow in order to keep on-campus housing open for students in a coronavirus update on July 31, 2020:

“CBU has taken steps to provide safe residences but the responsibility to prevent the spread of coronavirus is a shared responsibility. … Residents

are expected to assist in the effort to promote safety by following all CBU health guidelines and directives. Students are expected to keep personal living areas clean and avoid behaviors that would jeopardize their health as well as the health of others.”

CBU implemented new guidelines and rules in addition to asking students to be safe, such as daily health screenings, face masks and social distancing, no visiting hours and canceling all in-person events for the semester.

For Hudson Goegebuer, senior mechanical engineering major, living on campus was important to him because it is his senior year.

“I don’t want to be the reason somebody’s life is at risk from unknowingly spreading COVID-19, though it is practically undeniable that it is much harder to learn online than in person,” Goegebuer says. “I read my Bible outside in the morning, but I otherwise sit in my room all day until my classes are over. I try and schedule at least a single oneon-one every day as well as schedule time with friends to try and maintain a healthy life balance. It is what it is, but hopefully next semester I’ll be able to watch movies with my friends again before I graduate."

As a Residence Life community adviser, Goegebuer’s on-campus job also looks different this year.

“My job has changed a lot. There are many more limitations as to how we can relate and care for residents now. Some people do operate well with the passive approach we have to take and it is meaningful to them, but not everyone is the same. It’s hard because it means that I can’t pour love into everyone the way they need to receive love,” Goegebuer says.

As many students are still trying to get used to the change of online learning, housing restrictions and other changes to lessen the spread of COVID-19, students’ typical days look different from those of last semester.

Tyler Doench, junior marketing major, says his life has changed since not being on campus this semester.

every day, let alone even once this semester. Being online at home puts the challenge of not getting to hang out with your friends, not getting to go to in person office hours for your classes.

“It’s a lot more of a challenge to put in the effort to keep connections going at home than it is to be on campus. But with that said, I would rather have it be this year than any other year just because I feel like junior year is the year that most people have their friendship from college figured out so it’s easier to stay in touch with people,” Doench says.

Kirk Bernal, associate director of Residence Life at CBU says he believes that although classes look different this semester, being able to offer on-campus housing is important for students.

“Since we are online, I decided to stay at home to save money on housing but because of that I’m not able to see my friends from CBU and that has been hard. Plus with classes being online it feels harder to really engage in class, whether that is making new friends or asking professors questions about the material we cover in class”, Doench says.

Staying home and taking online classes outside of the CBU campus community can also be challenging for students’ mental health.

“I’d say overall I’m bummed to have my junior year be online just because this wasn’t how I thought I would be starting my junior year as well any year of my college experience,” Doench says. “I’m seven hours away from CBU. It’s not like I can see all my friends from school

“CBU has been working hard to determine how best to adapt to the ever-changing landscape.” Bernal says, “we have seen and heard that students want to be on campus to experience the CBU community, even if their classes are in a distance learning setting. These students’ experiences would have been very different from their expectations of CBU had we not been able to house students on campus. As such, we continue to strive to offer housing for as many students that want to live on campus.”

As CBU continues to navigate the changing guidelines and regulations of COVID-19, providing housing was the first step to get students some sense of the normalcy of college life after having to leave the Spring 2020 semester early because of COVID-19. ◆

"We have seen and heard that students want to be on campus to experience the CBU community, even if their classes are in a distance learning setting."

Kirk Bernal, associate director of Residence Life