Due to pandemics, many students not only studied, but also defended their theses online. Alina Yerofeyeva, SMM Editor at Manshuq, was one of them.
By Alina Yerofeyeva
When studying at the university, I often thought of my graduation year, how our group would be awarded diplomas. I imagined how we, wearing robes and graduation caps, would gather in a big hall, hold a graduation speech and share this joyful moment with our parents.
Unfortunately, the reality did not meet my expectations
Last March, we were told that we would study online. Students took this news neutrally, as we were sure everything would return back to normal soon. Pandemics, lockdown, red zones, quarantine. Our “soon” became a year. I must say that studying online is controversial.
First, I found more positive than negative aspects: I did not have to wake up early, waste my time travelling to the university and back, and could attend lectures and seminars while lying in bed. You only need to be there at the beginning of the class and say “Hello, I am here”, and then you can tend to your business while the lecture is going on.
I and my group mates quickly got used to lectures in Zoom and to uploading our homework to the University’s portal. The portal often did not respond due to a large number of students. This was uncomfortable, but not critical. By the way, we were exempted from exams that semester. We were offered to have summative assessment instead, to which we gladly agreed. My third year ended in this odd and new way.
The fourth year, the year of graduation, began. We continued studying online. That year we had a lot of interesting and creative projects, but the volume of homework increased too, so we had to work many hours on our laptops and meet the deadlines.
