My first week of classes were …

… refreshing.

Mikayla Magdziarz | Columnist

It was a pleasant surprise to find both staff and students have become more comfortable and confident in the online classroom experience. Last semester I saw more faceless silhouettes of students’ profiles than I saw people, but this semester is different. In nearly every class, I’ve seen smiling faces and more engaging conversations. This has changed everything, it enhances the college experience. It feels more “normal”. It appears we have both adapted and accepted the transformation of education. Now that we’ve had some practice, with motivation and high spirits, we are determined to make the most of it. Thank you to all of our professors who continue to ensure we enjoy this chapter of our lives. 

…interesting.

Monika Merryman | Columnist

After not having been on campus for what seems like an eternity, I set foot on NIU grounds for the first time since COVID-19 changed everything last year. I have the honor of participating in Nokia’s Co-Op this spring semester and we are required to be there in person. While I actually appreciated my classes being moved online – because of substantial time-savings – I didn’t realize how much I missed interacting with people until this semester started; seeing real human beings who happen to not be part of my family. All of my other classes haven’t really changed. I study different topics of English literature this semester, but everything is still online and we mostly don’t see each other because cameras are typically not turned on. It’s too bad because using cameras would make for a much more intimate, almost-classroom-like experience but I understand there may be technical difficulties preventing some of us from doing that. This will be my last semester at NIU, and maybe that’s why I wished for a bit more human interaction. Nonetheless, I am looking forward to all my classes and hope that one day we will return to what we’re used to.