CAROL ALMONTE, HOST: The City College of New York (CUNY), like many other institutions, have canceled all in-person classes due to the coronavirus and have moved to online learning. To put efforts into social distancing and decrease the number of people from getting infected by this virus. Adapting to the new online learning lifestyle has been a challenge for many students. Some CUNY schools have even told students to pack their belongings and not come back for the rest of the year. 

 

Nat sound: Fire Alarm going off at Brookdale Residence dorms. 

 

Almonte: The Fire Alarm went off at Brookdale Residence Hall on the day that Hunter College students, living on campus were asked to evacuate. In the past few weeks, in-person classes, access to college facilities, and other aspects of campus life have been shut down. Rachel Zhang, a student at Hunter College, was asked to move out of her dorm by Friday, March 27. Reporter Carol Almonte has our story.

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Almonte: Zhang says the hardest part about moving home was the loss of privacy.

 

Rachel Zhang: “I had a single room, and I was able to have my own space, but now that I moved home, I have to share a room with my sister, and I am just one room away from my parents who can yell at me to do anything or whatever they want.”

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Almonte: Zhang says how it is difficult to transition from living on campus to moving back home in a short period of time.

 

Zhang: I mean, what bugged me about this decision was first of all it was so last minute and this is when the cases were rising really quickly. I had been in quarantine in my room for eleven days at this point after coming back from Brookdale when classes moved online, and I had to set my quarantine day back to zero because I've been out and I didn't know if I was exposed.”

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Almonte: Dr. Jang is one of the many professors who are teaching online classes. 

 

Nat sound: Dr. Jang, teaching an online lecture.

 

Almonte: Roberto Calderon, is a twenty-three-year-old student from Queens College, who is majoring in Chemistry, he is listening to his quantum chemistry and spectroscopy lecture.

 

Roberto Calderon: “The only difficulties that I have is adjusting to a lab class online since everything is done through a website and lab used to be mostly hands-on.” 

 

Almonte: Calderon says how his biggest challenge is having to share a living space with his whole family.

 

Calderon: “When I want some quiet time, everybody is doing some other fun activities such as cooking or watching a movie and it gets a little tough to find some quiet space because everybody's home not just me anymore.” 

 

Almonte: Calderon also shares how he misses the little things he was able to do before the quarantine.

 

Calderon: “I do miss the library and I miss being able to go to Starbucks and having that alone time but you know you put on some headphones and tone everybody out and try to do the best you can.”

 

Almonte: Frida Campos from Queens is a twenty-year-old student at Queensborough Community College, who is majoring in Psychology. 

 

Frida Campos: “Not having my professor in front of me explaining certain problems that are very hard to understand. Sometimes It is really hard to find an answer when you don’t have anyone there to explain it to you.” 

 

Almonte: Justin Adames is a nineteen-year-old student from Bushwick, who is majoring in Computer Science and Information Security at John Jay College. 

 

Justin Adames: “The downside to online learning and what is most challenging is the simple fact of being home and getting easily distracted. I have also noticed that I find myself on my laptop screen throughout the whole day. It's draining and as well as stressful.” 

 

Almonte: Adames shares how he distresses during these hard times. 

 

Adames: “It's doing the things that make me happy, whether that's spending time with my family, exercising, listening to music, or playing video games.” 

 

For Hunter College News, I’m Carol Almonte. 

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