Author: Heisenberg

In recent times I think the updated education system has forgotten that there was no such thing as an online class before the pandemic. I believed that these classes were only there because of social distancing and safety protocols, but I did not expect it to be an important part of my college life. Personally speaking I hate online classes, not because I am old school, or I do not fancy such technology but the fact that there are so many technical obstacles make it frustrating. I prefer class to be flowing smoothly, but sometimes because of unstable internet connection, software, or hardware issues that flow is broken, and by the time that I reconnect, the lecture is already switched to another topic. Because of these issues I have difficulty concentrating after that point.

Apart from this, during the class, I have experienced a lack of personal interaction. When I am studying in an in-person class, I see a lot of students having various discussions among one other as well as with professors, but once I join an online class, not a single person speaks including myself. This has hindered my education as it made the class less interactive with limited communication and zero feedback. Furthermore, online class has hampered my examination as well. As the exams are conducted completely online, during the test I always have a fear of encountering some technical issues which might be an obstacle in completing it on time. This mode of learning with inclusion of online classes has significantly increased. This has altered the learning pattern of many; however, I feel that the incorporation of online classes is not changing soon.

I spend a lot of time using public transportation. Whether I am going to college, to get some groceries, to meet my friends, or anything else, I need public transportation. For me, travelling on a bus is one of the best times of the day because it is the moment where I listen to music, listen to a lot of podcasts like Joe Rogan for example. With my headphones on that cancels all the noise from the outside, I enjoy my time in my own world. On my way from point A to point B, I plan my day, I speak to people around me and ask them how their day has been, and sometimes when I am tired, I accidentally drift off to sleep. Green Bay is a small community so there are very few people that work for the Green Bay Metro, so when I use the bus, I feel happy when the bus driver gives me a nod or says, “Hey Man. How are you today?” and starts a brief conversation with me. Those split seconds of conversation really makes my day.

Travelling by Bus on a daily basis has made me realize how important it is in my life. It has been like a teacher to me that teaches new lessons every day. Being it from helping me to enhance my social skills, connect to new people, observe their expressions. It has also taught me time management as I fix my class schedule as well as meeting with the professors as per the schedule of the bus. Sometimes, the bus arrives later than it is supposed to, the time I spend waiting for the bus also teaches me patience. On the other hand, I sometimes hate it, it is only because of some incidents that take place on the bus. For instance, I experienced an incident a couple of days ago which was racially motivated on the metro bus while I was going to campus. Experiencing these kinds of things are not healthy, but I convince myself that every day is not the same. Apart from these bad incidents, I really enjoy travelling on the bus, and I would love to do it every single day as long as I am here in the states. Therefore, I feel that Mr. Bus has also taken the role of one of the best teachers in my life.

           There are very few moments in our life where our expectations and reality align. Isn’t it fascinating when this happens? Being a foreign student, I expected American universities to be more practical in their approach to education and I feel that my opinion turned out right. Rather than utilizing score sheets, I expected professors to evaluate a student’s performance based on assignments, exams, and in-class discussions. I also anticipated professors, friends, and colleagues to be extremely helpful, kind, and friendly, and do everything that they can to support one another. I thought college would provide me a diverse learning atmosphere in which I would be able to acquire and understand not only academics but also cultures, traditions, and values from other communities around the world.

            I am happy that my expectations are the reality that I am living now. Having hands-on learning experience changed my perception of how it would be back home where most of the time our studies were focused on memorization and exams. Also, being part of diverse college environment, I got to make friends from all over the world, one of whom I will always remember is Christian Bass, a hardworking guy from Louisville, Kentucky whose motto in life was “you only live once, so do whatever you want with your life and do not regret it at all.” This interaction with him in college showed me how different we all are and how differently we perceive life, which for me is more important than any educational formula. Furthermore, interacting with professors is one of the best things that I have done in college. No matter how rational or illogical my queries were in class, each professor assisted me in finding the correct answers and making me a better learner every time.