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For the season finale, let’s reflect on the pandemic. Students have had a hard year
The Minority Serving Institution Student Council (MSISC) at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas along with KUNV Radio are proud to present 'You Gon Listen', a twelve part podcast that aims to shine light on the issues and experiences that minority students and staff face at UNLV. The purpose of this series is to hear and learn directly from one another. We hope to create a dialogue about social issues and current events that shape our daily lives in order to make UNLV a better and more inclusive place.
0:00:00
Welcome to the season finale of You Gon' Listen at 91.5 KUNV. I'm your host, Karen Jean Charles, and I'm here with my two guests, Aaron Lewis and Brianna Green, and we're talking about surviving a college semester during a pandemic. For the season finale, I thought we could take a deep breath and reflect on the two and a half semesters we experienced during the pandemic. It's been a super hard one for me and many other students, but the pandemic has highlighted many shortcomings in every aspect of our society, including college. So let's talk about it. So first I wanna shout out the radio station. You're listening to You Go and Listen at 91.5 KUNV. And I want to welcome my two guests, and y'all have been on the show several times, but can y'all introduce yourself one last time for the people. Period! Hey guys, you know, this is Bat Gal Brie. Hi, hello. I am, I'm Wren. Wow, Brie has a lot of energy. I'm so excited, I'm sorry. So the semester is wrapping up y'all, so how are y'all feeling? I couldn't be any happier, honestly, thank God. I, it was literally the blood of Jesus and the power of Megan the stallions knees. I got me through these last two semesters It was tough. Y'all it was it was honestly too much. Yeah Mm-hmm 19 credits did not feel like 19 credits. I couple weeks of the semester. Same thing right now. And it's like, are you kidding me? Like every time I log on Blackboard, it's just something new. Just one more notification. Like hang it up, hang it up. What more could you possibly have to say? Let us just finish the semester and move on. Right, I've never taken 19 credits at once. I think the max I've taken is 15. What's the max that you've taken, Brianna?
0:02:00
Oh my God.
0:02:00
The max I've taken was like 6 or 9? Oh wow. That's crazy. 19 is a lot. Oh my god. I'm taking 17 right now because I- Oof. 19 is my max in general, but yeah. 19 last semester, 17 this semester.
0:02:22
Dang.
0:02:24
No wonder you upset. Right. How did you survive that? Please, honestly like I said, it wasn't that bad. I never have, since I've been in college, I have never had any Friday classes. And last semester, I didn't have any Wednesday classes either. So it's not like, it's never anything, I want to say bad, it didn't feel bad until I had to turn in every single time at the same time. And the same thing goes with now, like my Mondays are basically free, but right now it just feels like I have everybody's asking for like a paper or a project. Golly, why at the same time? And then we also on top of that still have exams and I'm like why are you asking for all this? I only took one class this semester because I was pretty sick and tired of this pandemic to be honest. I just don't really learn very well online. Do you guys have a preference, like online or in person? For me, I would have to say online only because I didn't have to deal with parking. Honestly, my school is so overpopulated. And like, say for example, my class starts at 9.30, I would have to be at school by 6.15 just to find parking, just so I don't have to like park in faculty parking, get a ticket, all that stuff. I can't lie, I feel like it was a little bit easier to finesse, don't get me wrong though, the workload was way worse than it was in person, but I do feel like it was easier to finesse, you know what I mean? Because my professors gave us extensions on exams because sometimes the website would crash, so he would like, you know, extend the date or something like that. So I thought it was a little bit easier, but yeah, I don't know. It was still hard, honestly. It was really hard. I found like, I mean, I have ADHD regardless. So for me, it's just kind of like at this point, I mean, it was gonna be distractions and procrastination, no matter where I was. Right. But I also feel like, because we do synchronous or asynchronous, and I didn't even know what those words meant until the pandemic hit. I was like, I couldn't pronounce it. I was like, what did I say? But now I feel like, especially with, I have a physics class, and that class is asynchronous. We just do it at our own pace, as long as we turn it in by the certain time, on Monday or Wednesday. And I found myself up, last night I was up, or this morning I guess, I was up at 5 a.m. doing physical work so I didn't have to do anything for the rest of the day. In certain situations like that, I'm like, okay, I like that because then I get the rest of the day off. But then it's like, the attendance is still mandatory. So that's stressing me out because I'm like, oh my gosh. I, yeah, I'm at home, I should be not distracted, but I am, I'm sitting in my room and my eyes travel to everything in the room that should be a certain way, but it's not, and suddenly I want to redecorate during the middle of class. So it hasn't been harder to stay focused. It has been harder to kind of be social, because the first couple weeks you're like, okay, the camera's on. Then slowly as the semester goes on, the camera turns off, and the participation also turns off and that has been difficult. But other than that, like I feel like I think Brie said it's easier to finesse. Everything is an open note quiz. Period. And my mom was like, you're not learning if you do it that way. I was like, they didn't tell us we couldn't.
0:05:51
I mean, matter of fact, one of my classmates last semester was like, work smarter, not
0:05:52
harder. I was like, oh, okay, say less. Say nothing else. And that really helped me. I mean, I was like, oh okay, say less.
0:06:02
So, but.
0:06:03
Why?
0:06:04
Say nothing else.
0:06:05
So, in that regard, like I have been doing really well on quizzes and I kind of hope, I know they won't, but I hope that they'll still let us have a few open note quizzes
0:06:13
when we get back to school.
0:06:14
Right. I am a little concerned about the adjustment period from online classes to in-person classes. Is, I mean, are you guys going to have as much trouble as I think I'm going to have? Because the getting up, the finding parking, the walking, like really far, like I know I'm about to have trouble. Do you guys feel the same? Oh yeah, 100%. And when I transferred, the school that I'm going to is like 30 minutes to an hour away. It's a way bigger campus. So I'm going from me being in my home, in my house, you know, alone during the day to having this huge classroom, it's like an auditorium style classroom. I'm going to have to fight and kill and bite for parking again. So I definitely do feel like it's going to take a huge hit on me socially. And, you know, just like how you just said, you know, like waking up on time and having to make that drive, getting gas, like, oh my God, I have to get gas before class starts or else I'm going to be late, this is on the 3rd. But I really do feel like that transition is going to be absolutely insane, 100%. How about you? I, for me, I'm moving back to campus so that's definitely going to be a transition. I've enjoyed being at home but I also am moving into like my own apartment on campus so I'll have my own room. So that will be different. But it will be hard because all of the classes, now that I'm in a cohort for education, all of my classes, I mean they chose the classes for me. So they're like, hey, these are your classes, and they're like 10 in the morning. And I'm like, I'm not used to, like I can get up at 10 in the morning at home and then get on Zoom, but I have never in my life gotten up at 10 in the morning and gone to class. So that's going to be a bit difficult. But I guess as a teacher, I'm going to have to figure that one out. So I'm not looking, well let me backtrack, I am looking forward to going back to school and like living on campus. Right. Just because I'm ready for a change of scenery, but I'm not looking forward to having to get up, I get like, I get eight, and get my life together, and then go to class at ten, but won't be an issue. My car will just be across from my door. I won't have to walk. You know what I just remembered? I'm so sorry. Wait, were you done talking? Wait, I'm so sorry if I cut you off. No, go ahead. Oh, I just remembered a problem that I had and I know y'all can relate, is me having to get up early to do my hair. Listen, that, I just, I just remembered that, like, that's something that I don't want to have to go through, like, having to get up like two hours earlier just to do my hair, just for it to dry and like still get to class on time. Like, I know that sounds so stupid, but baby, this natural hair does not have any manners, okay? So, please, I really don't. You don't understand how I love waking up and still being in my bonnet and signing into class and sitting there. I was just gonna say that. Being ugly, you know what I mean? I'd be camera on, just bonnet on. I don't care. But I do care if I'm about to come in public. No. My psychology professor at the beginning of the semester, she almost had us. She had us in the first half. She was like, you know, I need everybody's cameras on. She was like, I don't mind if you come to class and like your scarf and your bonnet. I was like no ma'am I said because I'm not going back I need to take the bonnet off because I was right back there and I've seen them do it like they'll walk on, keep the bonnet on and then next thing you know they're asleep on camera and I'm like, how are you sleep in front of us right now? I just I Just put my my phone camera to the ceiling go take a nap I'm like, how are you the aid for this class at your- Not the aid.
0:10:26
What are you like?
0:10:27
I was like, you think I'd be awake with what's going on right now? I was like, why'd you even sign up to be a TA if you was gonna sleep through the whole class? And she has different sections. Why are you here? Right. I was like, if she sleeps, I'm sleep through this. Nevermind. Honestly, but I do wanna go back to the beginning when the pandemic hit and, you know, we were all in the group chat talking about like sending each other the screenshots of the emails of you know the university saying hey you guys don't have to come back after spring break just stay home. What were you guys thinking in that moment? Oh I feel like in that moment I was kind of excited but nervous at the same time because like you said you know we the pandemic had just hit and things were starting to change literally overnight so like when all that was happening I think me nervousness was like the main emotion that I was experiencing because this is something we've never ever ever had to do before you know, talking to my parents like, oh my God, what does this mean? Like, what do we do? This is gonna hurt. But I feel like as time went on, you know, obviously things kind of became quote unquote, its own normal. Like this is the new normal, you know what I mean? Right. We got used to it pretty quick. Exactly. Like a year just blew by and it's crazy to say that, you know, like a, what do they call it? A pandemic bursary or something like that? I don't remember what it's called, but like, it was crazy how, like, how fast it went by, bro. Like how we were nervous and now it's just like, Oh yeah, like I'm taking my classes online next semester. Like what? That's crazy. Yeah. How about you, Ren? I definitely, when I first got, okay, so we got several emails and we was like it was like a great against the clock because at the time I was living on campus so when they first sent us home they sent us home early for spring break and I was like oh two weeks of spring break? You guys tell me why. But then they slowly were like we're not sure you guys are coming back. I was like run that by me. And then, because my school is in the state system, when the announcement on the TV came across, and they were like, University of Cisnaus of Maryland will not be returning to campus for the remainder of the school year. I was like, hold up, run it back, run it back Turbo. She's like, what did you say? I was like, I have to stay here? I was so sick, I was so sick, because then they were like, they were emailing us, they were like, okay, if you live on campus, you have to come between this time and this time to come pack your stuff up. And I was like, I have to go up there by myself, to pack my entire room up. And it was like in the middle of classes and they were like, oh my gosh, if you don't get it out in time, it was fine. And I was like, what the heck? We have to still do classes all during that time. And so part of me was like, I'm, I wouldn't just want to go back to school. Like I don't understand. But then another part was like, I guess it's safer this way. And then as it went on, like you guys said, the adjustment was really, really fast. The first night that I was finished with classes and I was at home, I was like, oh, this is different. I said, I don't have to go anywhere to go get dinner. I just gotta go downstairs. And so, thinking about that and thinking about just how comfortable I was back at my own house, I was like, oh, this isn't too bad. To the point where I was like, I don't wanna have to go back to school next year. And then when I was choosing classes over the summer and they weren't sure, I was like, please don't make us go back. Like, I don't want to go back, I like it here. So, and even now, I was like, I don't really want to go back next year. But now I'm starting to slowly be like, okay, a lot of my friends are going to be in their senior year, I won't be, but a lot of my friends will be, and I'm like, okay, maybe I can go back just to see you guys and hang out. So, now I'm excited to go back, but I really did enjoy being at home and I the transition I didn't even mind every weekend I could stay here I like it I didn't mind and I got to talk to you guys more which is nice to you because we got to act up right yeah especially in the beginning it was just like every night just yelling at the phone. Asking a fool. Running them up. I know my mom was tired of me. Hey, running them up? Swashbuckling. Non-stop. Right. Endless chaos. They don't know what that means. But... You know, nothing but that. Right. Y'all gonna have to learn. But when it comes... When it's like, for me, that adjustment period was just like... I was just like, what is going on, honey? Because my whole family was home at the same time. People just came over to visit and they ended up staying for months. And it was people yelling in the house, people talking, cooking, and I'm just trying to be in my meetings. Can y'all please relax? But I don't know, my family, we're Haitians, we come from the Caribbean, but girl, they do not be quiet.
0:15:39
They love to talk.
0:15:41
But I do wanna-
0:15:41
Oh God, I feel so bad for, oh, sorry, sorry.
0:15:44
No, no, no, go ahead, go ahead. No, I was just saying, like, I do feel sorry for people who don't have, like, the privilege to have, like, a quiet corner that they can go into, you know? Like, people forget that some people are living with people more than three members of the house. Like, you got six people in the house or it's a smaller house and things like that. So it's harder for them to really like sit down and concentrate and listen. So I really do feel bad for people that had to go through that because it was hard regardless if you were in a quiet house or not, like learning that e-learning is no joke. And that's why I feel for these high schoolers too sometimes because especially the seniors because those poor babies, they didn't get to do prom, they didn't get to do grad bash, all those fun things that they didn't get to walk, you know what I mean? And they're like over here trying to pay attention for like how many hours a day. I feel so bad for them, but it was no joke, honestly. Yeah, it's definitely worse for, I think high school students right now because college students, we have like classes that are like hour 15, hour 30 minutes and then we make our own schedule we can just move it around but I think high school students have to sit there like the whole day which is crazy and I was babysitting these kids and they were like playing school and they're like put your mask on put your mask on I was like wow these kids have never gone to school normally I was like that was really sad. That is kind of sad and it's crazy to see that, like I said, like that, this is the new normal now, you know what I mean? Like, who knows how long this is gonna last, but it is so crazy just like how fast things change and we've adapted and just came to terms with everything. I do want to talk about like, like speaking of coming to terms with everything, how did your professors act when the pandemic hit? Because mine sort of disappeared. I don't know about y'all. How did your professors act? My professors, I feel like they handled it pretty well. I can't, a little too well in my opinion, because that works so stupid.
0:17:54
It's like crazy.
0:17:55
Yeah, but I feel like they handled it pretty well. Like all of them seem to like know technology because you know you have those professors that are, like, just so, like, technology illiterate. They don't know how to use a computer, don't know how to record. But thankfully, all of my professors knew how to use Zoom and, like, the little whiteboard thing so they can, like, draw on stuff like that. But for me, my experience with my professors wasn't too bad. I can say that, at least. How about you, Ryn? I feel like the longer we got into the pandemic, the worse it got. You would think it would be the other way around. Right. This semester, I was like, am I talking to a brick wall? Why are you not answering me? And that for me is confusing because my thing is, you tell me at the end of class if I have any questions to email you. And I email you and you don't answer me. What was the point of you saying that and what was the point of me doing it? It just lost a lot. Right, like you just talked it to talk at that point, just say that. Right. But, the very beginning, I guess because at that point they were like, I thought the adjustment for them was gonna be the same as it was for us, but a lot of them were like on it. I think they had been prepared for it because it was like going around. Right. But, when the beginning of the fall semester hit, and I was like, you guys had all summer, we all had all summer to prepare for online learning. And I got into my first class, and the professor had no idea what was going on with Blackboard Collaborate. He didn't know how to, I was like, Suning, why didn't you use, he was like, I use Zoom all summer. I was like, Suning, why didn't you use Zoom today? I was like, not you just wasted our whole class time because you didn't know how to use Blackboard Collaborate and they say that you can use either of the two, whichever one you know better.
0:19:49
So it was just little things like that
0:19:50
that I was like, it's not making any sense because you had a choice and you chose the one that you didn't know or why wouldn't you get to know it if you knew you weren't using it on the first day of class? But like I said, it was just like progressively getting worse. I'm like, I know it's a mix between being tired of being at home with the pandemic, but also at the same time, if they hold us to a certain standard, I feel like it's only fair that we also hold them to a similar standard because at the end of the day, we're paying to be taught by them. Exactly. And I think if you tell me the whole semester that I can email you with questions and then radio silence, why would you say that? Like, I don't understand. But then it's also the same time it's like there's the professors you mentioned, Brie mentioned the course, so there's the professors who instead of teaching would just like hand out like busy work and I'm like I didn't pay for busy work I paid to actually be taught. Like I'm not paying to teach myself on the next month. And so that that was also very frustrating and I noticed that at the end or during this semester as well. And like I said I know it's just hard to like you have a responsibility the same way we do. So it was just frustrating in that regard. Because I mean, like, they left it up this semester, they left it up to Towson faculty if they wanted to be in person or be online. And I'm like, if you chose to be online, you should have had the curriculum to back that up. Like, why would you choose it and then just teach remote, like make us teach ourselves. So that's one reason I can't wait to go back to school because I'm like, I can hold you accountable if I could see you the same way you can hold me.
0:21:21
Exactly. Very true.
0:21:22
You know, that's so funny you say that about like doing, teaching yourself. So you guys remember that group project that I was stressed out about literally like last month? You remember that project?
0:21:32
Yes.
0:21:32
Oh, yeah.
0:21:33
Okay.
0:21:33
So tell me why I caught on to my professor. Basically, we as the students taught each other the entire textbook. Okay, so you know early childhood, death and dying, you know, senior age, you know, teenage. She gave each group a certain age group to present on and we basically taught each other the curriculum. So when it came time to take the exam, I would have my textbook open on the side trying to remember what my classmates taught or presented in their slideshow. And I was just like, this lady literally taught us for like the first week of school and that was it. She was like, okay, that's it. Y'all, it's y'all turn now. Y'all take over. And I was just like, I didn't pay for that, though. Like, you're the professor. You're supposed to teach me the things that I don't know, but instead she had my classmates, you know, presenting it in a project way, and I was just like, she thinks she's sick. Like, I really caught on to that. Right. She did already. But something similar happened to me as well. I want my money back, to be honest. Right. Like, I kind of want to be reimbursed for these pandemics. Run me my money. Or run me my money.
0:22:48
Exactly.
0:22:48
And didn't they raise the price of tuition during the pandemic? They did for us. They sure did. Ours lowered. Oh, nice. Is that the right word? Probate? That's another thing. When we came home, everybody was like, so where's my refund at? Right. I was like, that's a good question. I said, because if I paid to live the full year on campus, where's my check? And they were trying to tell us, they're like, oh we're not giving you money back. I was like, hold on, wait a minute. What? I was like, we can't, you guys told us that we had to go home and then the university system backed it up and then people started writing it. Parents were threatening with lawsuits if they didn't get the money back. I was like, oh, it's that serious? I said, it should never be that serious. If you didn't have the money to send them to begin with, maybe we shouldn't have gone. I was like, whoa, the $1.30 off these checks? I was like, that was a really threatening lawsuit. I was like, oh my. I said, let me sit back and let y'all handle this one. I was like, because I'll take a check. I ain't going to threaten y'all with a lawsuit, because I know for a fact, they'd be like, if you are coming after us for the money like this, you should not have been here.
0:23:53
Facts.
0:23:54
But it was just the way that they weren't going to do it. And then going into the fall semester, they were like, oh, yeah, we're not giving you guys money back if you guys have to get sent home and then they sent them home the first week of classes and people like where's our money at like yeah that's a good question cuz you guys didn't even really know if you should have been back at school to begin with hmm so they scamming us y'all you know for real I feel like they're
0:24:20
Huh
0:24:22
Yeah, your your tuition went up yeah my tuition went up and I was trying to get a refund for my parking pass because I paid for the whole semester and they were like, um It's a little too late for that. So we're not gonna give you money. I was like girl I haven't parked like a single day like after y'all closed it like give me half at least they're like nope yeah but i do have but there's no way you can like dispute that or something i mean it's too late now that was like in the beginning oh okay but i do want to talk about exams since exam season is upon us um do you guys have any advice for students who are going through the pandemic right now who live in multi-generational homes or are first-generation students or, you know, dealing with their own struggles, who are taking exams right now. Do you have any advice? Yeah. I don't stress yourself out. That's not to say like you shouldn't study or you shouldn't try your best, but don't don't stress yourself out because it's a hard situation that we're in. Especially, I think a lot about like, first year college students, and I'm like, okay, you spent your whole first year of college sitting in front of a computer screen. I was like, if you make a mistake at the end of the semester, nobody is going to hold it against you. Like, they're going to take into account the fact that there was a pandemic, or at least they should take into account the fact that there was a pandemic going on. If you need help, ask. Even if you don't have like accommodations, it's always okay to ask for help. Only one of my professors has made that clear. She was like, I'm always down to help you guys in any way that I can. I know that times are hard and I think that's really important because you like you get into situations where you're like okay, especially if you're taking like a whole bunch of credits, like everything's happening at once, you'll get into situations like okay I'll do it when I finish this one thing and then you finish that one thing and you're like I'm exhausted. Right. So just taking taking time to ask for help and taking breaks. The phone is ringing hello but throwing me off but don't don't stress yourself out. Oh and utilize the fact that you are sitting behind a screen unless you're taking your exam on camera. Utilize the fact that you're taking your exam on camera. You're not going to say anything else other than that. But take that into account. Don't act crazy. I just want to clarify. KUNV is not, you know, telling y'all to cheat. That's not us. But whatever your interpretation is, is your interpretation. That's all I'm going to say. No, but listen. Why? If you were taking notes all semester, well you should have been. If you weren't taking notes all semester, that's a you issue. I can't help you with that. But if you were taking notes all semester, there's nobody telling you that you can't use them. And I mean, I feel like a lot of professors at this point know that that's happening. Because one of my professors was like, I know you guys were using your notes. She was like, in fact, I encourage you to use your notes. She was like, because it makes my job easier. I was like, oh. But then at the same time, if you do have your notes and you do use them, it also proves that you were paying attention during the semester. So don't stress yourself out to the point where you're like, oh my gosh, I have to be the greatest student there is and be the greatest on this exam. All of your resources, this is not always going to happen, but all of your resources are right there and it shouldn't make you more overwhelmed. It shouldn't make you overwhelmed at all. So utilize that fact when you can. If you're writing papers, if you're doing like take-home tests, stuff like that, you know, utilize it. Don't think too much about it, just go for it. Right, so really quickly, Bree, any advice? I concur with everything that Wren said. You know, take your time. This is a new arena for everybody. You know, if you mess up, it's okay. You know what I mean? Like, you have plenty of other chances. Always, always ask your professor questions. If you're going to be that quote-unquote annoying student who's blowing up their teacher's emails, do it because your professor is going to see that you have a thirst for learning and you clearly want the help, you know what I mean? So they're gonna appreciate that a lot. And don't beat yourself up, like take your time, you know. You make mistakes and that's totally fine. Take your time, don't beat yourself up, and utilize your tools, baby. Period. So I do want to thank you guys for guys want to shout out your social medias real quick where they can follow you? Bri, don't you want to go first? No you go first, I'm sorry. I was literally looking up my name because I forget every time. I'm screaming. Okay, well you guys can follow me on Instagram at Erin.Simone. And then my Twitter is lowkeyryn. My Instagram is nochilbre. That's N-O-C-H-I-L-L-B-R-E. Twitter, please ignore everything that I repeat on there. That is underscore no chill Bree as well. And I also want to shout out Karen for letting us come on this amazingly beautiful show. Shout out to Soundland right there. Shout out to you, big up to you. Boom, boom, I know you hear me right now. Big up to you. Also, shout out to the graduates that's graduating that have already graduated. My time is this Saturday, baby. I can't wait.
0:30:24
Do it.
0:30:25
Shout out to you too, Wren. Love y'all so much. I just want to say thank you so much. Thank you so much for all the support on this on this podcast. Thank you guys for listening.
0:30:31
Thank you guys for putting it on your Instagram stories and sharing it.
0:30:32
Thank you to Ray, who does all the sound stuff in the back.
0:30:33
Yeah, big shout out to him.
0:30:34
And we will see you next time.
0:30:35
Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye.
0:30:46
Bye.
0:30:47
Bye.
0:30:48
Bye.
0:30:49
Bye.
0:30:50
Bye.
0:30:51
Bye.
0:30:52
Bye. Bye.
0:30:53
Shout out to him and we will see y'all when we see y'all.
Transcribed with Cockatoo