I am a final semester senior taking five courses over Zoom. Whether it be for my 9:30 a.m. graphic design course or my 6 p.m. video editing class, my camera is turned on and I’m ready to learn.
The way in which we learn has changed over the course of this last year. With a pandemic that has killed nearly 400,000 Americans, it is obvious that the switch to a virtual platform was pertinent for safety. It is still not safe for classes to meet in mass and without facial coverings. Conducting classes over Zoom continues to solve all of these problems.
While learning and adapting to a college routine online, I also began to form a few pet peeves. A pet peeve in specific is that of the muted Zoom camera. On the first day, professors typically ask for students to keep cameras on, unless they have been explicitly told a reason as to why it needs to remain off. When a professor is lecturing and trying to engage in a conversation and all they hear is dead silence and there’s only gray rectangles with names they have yet to see in person, it feels wrong. Professors are putting in the work and we should be too.
Connection is so important during this time and we have had to find ways to do so safely. Not just internet connection, but the human connection.
The way I see it, classes are giving us a reason to brush our hair, put on a clean shirt and socialize with other human beings. Even if this socialization is just awkwardly smiling and saying “Yes I can hear your audio professor.” Don’t let your professors teach to the void.
Socialization in a pandemic, wherever we can get it, is good for the soul. Being in contact with others reduces stress levels and proves to us that we’re all in this boat together.
It may seem stressful to keep your camera on at all times, to look picture perfect at all times, but I promise you, no one is staring at you. Get comfortable with being uncomfortable. I keep my camera on and eat tortellini. With two evening classes in a row and prolonged camera use, I feel I have earned the right to politely chew my pasta while my professor analyzes “Citizen Kane.” It doesn’t matter if you’re chewing or cooking, keep the camera on and let your professor know that they aren’t teaching to sleeping students.
Overall, I just feel that, when it’s possible, turn on your video camera. Let us see that messy bed — you can even show us how you make it. It is so important that we remain light-hearted and kind to each other especially during these perilous times. Zoom classes won’t last forever, but in a few years when I look back on the days when I learned from my bedroom, I want to remember smiling (or rolling my eyes) right back at a screen full of peers.
