One of the common things I heard from my high school teachers was how different college was going to be. Whether that was phrased in a good or bad way, I always knew it was going to be different. Well…. not quite so this quarter. For the most part, online college feels the same as online high school. The biggest difference being the ratio of class time to out of class work time. Someone told me in the first few weeks that high school is 7 hours of class and an hour or two of homework each day, but college is the opposite. A few hours of class each day and a lot of hours for homework. That idea stuck with me and has helped me understand what I should be doing to prepare each week. I use the word “should” carefully because time management is the largest mountain I’ve ever seen. And I’ve been to the Alps. Everything I do in a day besides eating, sleeping, and exercising, happens in the living room. Sometimes I’m on the left side of the couch, or at a small desk, or on the floor, or even on the right side of the couch. It’s absolutely a double edged sword. On one side there is zero commute time and zero external distractions. On the other side there is zero accountability and plenty of self-inflicted distractions.
Online school is not for everyone. It’s definitely not for me. The number one downside is not being able to hang out in the honors dorm lobby every day studying or talking about random things. Beginning to Seek, the honors introduction course taught by Dr. Howe and Ethan Hoffman, has done a great job filling that hole though. Since the class is about discussing current events and helping us learn about ourselves, there is much more opportunity for interaction compared to other classes which are about getting the information to us. One interaction I am always happy to get more of is with my dog. Every day now I am able to take her for an hour walk, which wasn’t possible in the “before times.”
I haven’t even mentioned my coursework yet! Intro to Computer Science (CPTG 121), taught by Dr. Hwang, has been my favorite. As I alluded to earlier, time management has never been my strongest attribute, but with homework from CPTG 121 I’m always way ahead of schedule. I’ve definitely chosen the right major (computer science). Another class I’m glad to be taking is Lifetime Fitness (HLSC 120), taught by Coach Bri. True to its name, this class will be serving me for the rest of my life. These two classes are complete opposites in response to shifting towards online school. Normally in lifetime fitness we would be going to the university’s gym each class to do our assigned workouts, instead we video ourselves doing a bunch of calisthenic exercises and upload it to Blackboard. Computer Science (CS), on the other hand, is the same online or in person. If anything, the forced development of online systems has helped CS. Of course, it’s never the same socially, especially with so few cameras on in most any class (sorry professors).
My beginning at La Sierra University hasn’t been ideal, but that was a given. What it really means is the next few years are only going to get better! By the end of my time at La Sierra University I hope to have made an amazing project or product in the CS field, I hope to have made some lifelong friends, and mostly I hope to have figured myself out! College life is great and I can’t wait to set foot on campus and say hello to everyone on their way to classes.
- Zack Sutter (Class of 2024), Computer Science