From the @AmarilloCollege Ware Circle Desk:
We are a month into this new COVID-19 approach to loving our students (and each other) to success. My time in the Ware Circle Desk has been illuminating. I’ve learned so much about our college and its students. A way too long thread:

1) Most students are in some kind of economic crisis. I’ve greeted more students who are in tears, who feel lost, lost their jobs, losing their hope, and know education is their lifeline. They are still trying to learn and are so worried they are losing access to their future.

2) Students are scared. They are scared they aren’t going to learn in this new way & worried they don’t have the tech skills to thrive. They're “embarrassed” they are “the only” ones without technology or the initial skills to use it. (a few faculty/staff who feel the same way.)

3) I’ve learned our bureaucracy is still a barrier for students – if we can function now without forms & 12 signatures .... Having a form/process on a website doesn’t necessarily help students access, submit, manage, verify, clarify, and problem-solve. We can do better.

4) Students are surprised how effectively & easily they can build their tech skills IF THEY HAVE ACCESS. Students walk in with life size teddy bears as they “practice” for clinicals. Then they transition to a sim lab & are shocked by how much fun & effective tech learning can be.

5) Students really love the science labs from home. These labs are practical, doable, and students tell me they are fun. Faculty have found a way to make learning fun amid the fear.

6) I’m moved by how many of students are using our online counseling tools and online counselors. The mental health support is more important than the manner in which it is accessed.

7) IT, Advising, ARC, Financial Aid, Tutors, bookstore & AskAC are vital to learning. These heroes love students through issues w/ degree plans, applications, transcripts, test prep, frantic calls, hungry students w/ lost jobs & unpaid bills, broken technology - they fix it all.

8) Faculty/staff walk in grace. I see students w/ stories of how you solve technology snafus & re-teach concepts. You support student parents with kids also learning at home. You connect students to job & resources. You calmly manage missed deadlines & poor grades compassionately

9) Students, faculty & staff need community even more now. Students use The Underground computer center to be “with” people – at a distance - as much as they use it for the technology itself. Many were isolated before and this situation has exacerbated the sense of loneliness.

10) I am continually reminded why I truly love @AmarilloCollege. I hear your love for our students through their stories every day. You teach me how to be a better person, professional, leader, and advocate. Thank you, with all that I am - thank you.