Well, the company that made it possible for everyone to work from home during the great shutdown of the COVID-19 pandemic, has sent its employees back to in-person work. There really is no more excuse to stay home. 

In a post-pandemic world, students have gotten used to the idea of staying home and attending classes from the comfort of their bedroom or dorm. While it was nice staying home for a period of time, that era is over. 

Zoom, along with many other companies, have begun asking its employees to return to the office. 

Zoom believes that a hybrid structure will greatly benefit the company, as its employees would be able to interact with other team members. 

“We believe that a structured hybrid approach — meaning employees that live near an office need to be on-site two days a week to interact with their teams — is most effective for Zoom,” a Zoom spokesperson told CBS. 

Similarly, NIU urges students to keep going to class in-person. 

“Because they’re used to it (online class) – a lot of times, we’ll hear students saying, ‘I want my classes to be online,’ and the classes that they need are only available face-to-face now, and so it becomes a challenge for them,” said Nicole Holland, director of advising for the College of Health and Human Sciences, in a Northern Star interview about students skipping class. 

For some, going to class in person can be a challenge. Maybe it doesn’t fit in their schedule the way they want it, or a certain level of anxiety that comes with being in the classroom. No matter the reason, the benefits of going to class in-person greatly outweigh the reasons to stay home. 

When a student is in the classroom there are fewer distractions, hands-on learning and interpersonal development. Students are able to better form relationships with instructors and peers that can be helpful throughout their academic careers. 

Students tend to learn more in an active learning environment, such as an in-person class, than they will in a passive lecture, especially at the college level, according to a study conducted by Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 

And so, as Zoom sends its employees back to the office, it is time to face facts and embrace in-person learning.