With the recent lifting of California’s masked mandates, many of our students began feeling a sense of relief and can now imagine the end of the almost three-year pandemic. But are we really over COVID? When students step onto our campus, they have a right to experience a safe and secure environment, knowing that the necessary steps are being taken by the administration to prevent the spread of COVID transmission. Campus entry protocols have been put in place requiring approved vaccinations, masks, social distancing, and limited face to face interactions. Many of our classes are still remote, and most of the staff and faculty meeting are done through Zoom. Glendale College currently exceeds the State and County Covid-19 protocols.
Despite these strict protocols and restrictions, there is a relatively small population of students who insist on in-person instruction. They don’t seem to think too much about the risks, ventilation concerns, masking types, or the rising gas prices. These rebels of education if you will, believe that remote learning isn’t for them. They need that face-to-face interaction, that classroom banter, and that sense of group belonging and social experience that can only be experienced in the physical classroom. These brave pioneers of academia are willing to wait in line to get their vaccination bracelet each and every day, put on an uncomfortable mask when entering the buildings, and get their education despite the unmentionable risk of never having the opportunity to get a fresh coffee or a warm blueberry scone. That’s why I referred to them originally as the “rebels”, who exhibit all of the characteristics of successful students. They are resilient, they are risk takers, they have grit, and they work hard to fulfill their goals.
I asked several of these student “rebels” why they chose in-person instruction over remote learning, and here is what they had to say:
An ESL Level 1 student named Armon said, “I need to be in class because I don’t like computers. I need to see the teacher and ask questions.”
Another ESL Level 1 student named Tina said, “remote learning is boring. I need to see people and talk with them.”
An ESL level 2 student named Yuri stated, “I don’t like remote or online learning. I’m not a robot, and sitting on a computer is not good for me to learn. I need people, I need to see the teacher.”
A Community Services Student taking a Belly Dancing class stated, “I couldn’t take a class like this on a computer, I need to see how it’s done in person, how those muscles move.”
Although the student sample was small, a vast majority of the students I spoke with indicated they needed real exchanges, face-to-face interactions with teachers and students, and without technology as their medium of communication. Not only were they not worried about Covid, they instead were more concerned about when the masked mandate would be repealed. They are a resilient group, a small group relative to their remote counterparts, but are staunch reminders of what “normal” academic life once looked like before the pandemic. The Garfield faculty and staff are proud to serve them, and thank them for trusting in our strict and rigorous safety protocols.
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