I think it is safe to say that I have had an abnormal graduate experience. My first semester, Fall 2018, was disarranged due to Hurricane Florence and the subsequent flooding of Conway. Fall 2019 saw the damage that Hurricane Dorian brought to South Carolina, and the latest Coronavirus outbreak has taken my final semester completely online. However, things this time around have not been as bad for me personally.
My only class this semester is my capstone course, MALS 799, where I am writing my thesis paper. Thankfully, most of my research can be completed online and I can hold virtual meetings with my advisor. Technology has been a godsend this semester.
I work for the Athenaeum Press on campus, where we publish student work into books or online experiences. While it is much easier to conduct meetings in person with the undergrad students and professors, we have been able to work with Slack and Zoom to keep our workflow running as smoothly as possible. I am grateful for the technology integration that CCU has implemented to keep our academic life continuing. While the three-week break from Hurricane Florence was nice in some respects, cramming the rest of that semester in was extraordinarily difficult when I had two major papers to write in a couple months.
One of the hardest things I have found during the last couple weeks is to force myself to get up and start working, whether that be on my paper, or work itself. My office environment on campus allows me to focus on what needs to be done, but working from home is an entirely different beast. There are simply so many distractions, from YouTube being just a click away to my dog wandering into my room at any given time. What works for me is to create something of a routine. Wake up, work, then relax. It reminds me of my normal work day, so it seems to feel normal.
My heart goes out to all members of the Coastal family. Some of you have been personally affected by the Coronavirus, and I cannot begin to imagine to pain and difficulty that must bring. Hopefully we can all continue to do our part and put this thing behind us.
