Students should have the option to continue remote learning in the upcoming fall semester and even beyond. The school system needs to realize that everyone’s idea of “normal” is different. 

Students from all over the country can recall in March of 2020 when universities instructed students to go home and not return to campus due to Coronavirus. 

Through the course of last year, students were consistently told that school would return to “normal” eventually. 

“Normal” classes, “normal” teaching, “normal” life. All of this meaning college would return to traditional classrooms with face-to-face learning. 

This obsession with returning to “normal” isn’t just in the school system, but in the entirety of the United States. 

In recent weeks, universities have made it clear that they are finished with remote learning.

It almost feels like it was never ideal in the first place to universities, but what if it was ideal for their students?

My normal definitely does not look the same as it did in March of last year.

I quit my long standing service industry job because of the pandemic and it allowed me to return to school to finish my degree. 

I adapted, like most people, during the pandemic and my life changed because it had to. 

Adapting to remote learning was a tough uphill battle that I can thankfully say I have only recently gotten comfortable with. 

I adapted to remote learning when it happened, and was able to learn more about myself than I ever did when going to campus. 

I was able to learn self-discipline when it came to organization by keeping track of assignments and their due dates. 

My normal now revolves around the sanctuary of the apartment that I live in and have built to be comfortable for online learning.

My normal is being able to safely social distance whenever I go out, and the ability to keep my head buried in my studies and not get distracted with friends or parties. 

My normal looks completely different from what universities want it to look like, and I feel like I am not being heard as a student. 

Students were rushed to adapt to online and remote learning and basically left stranded if it didn’t work out well for them.

Some students, like myself and many others, now prefer to learn from home and can’t even begin to imagine going back to a classroom. 

Remote learning allows for more freedom in ways that students never had before. 

Students who take online classes from home often have extra time to work more hours at their job. 

With classes suddenly returning to face-to-face instruction in the summer and fall semesters, I find myself questioning if it is worth risking my life to get an education. 

I don’t think I’m willing to risk catching Coronavirus just to get a Bachelor’s degree.

College universities need to realize that students can’t keep changing their plans because of what they think “normal” learning looks like. 

Remote learning should be available in the upcoming semesters, and students should be asked more frequently how they prefer to learn.