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Hey students!
Don't go back to campus! It's a fucking trap.
Uni administrators are basically just re-opening so they can get your butts in seats long enough to charge you full tuition
& when the inevitable outbreaks hit, they'll "pivot to online" due to "unforeseen events"
Don't go back to campus! It's a fucking trap.
Uni administrators are basically just re-opening so they can get your butts in seats long enough to charge you full tuition
& when the inevitable outbreaks hit, they'll "pivot to online" due to "unforeseen events"
You're gonna wind up doing most of the semester online anyway.
Save yourself a few thousand bucks & just start online. (If your school doesn't do that, scroll down for pointers!)
Save yourself a few thousand bucks & just start online. (If your school doesn't do that, scroll down for pointers!)
Also, hopefully, save yourself some organ damage.
Young adults aren't immune. That's a leftover idea from before we knew COVID well.
Now we know a lot more about how it can leave even folks who had no symptoms, or mild ones, with long-term organ damage. https://www.vox.com/2020/5/8/21251899/coronavirus-long-term-effects-symptoms
Young adults aren't immune. That's a leftover idea from before we knew COVID well.
Now we know a lot more about how it can leave even folks who had no symptoms, or mild ones, with long-term organ damage. https://www.vox.com/2020/5/8/21251899/coronavirus-long-term-effects-symptoms
Y'all still have a lot of life ahead of you. That's a long time to live with fucked-up lungs, hearts, stroke damage, & other long-lasting COVID aftermath that we're still just beginning to understand.
Like, internal scarring that cuts your lung capacity 20-30%. Maybe for life.
Like, internal scarring that cuts your lung capacity 20-30%. Maybe for life.
I'm seeing a lot of talk from folks who work at universities about how uni budgets are not equipped to handle pivoting to online, how teaching online is actually more work than in person, etc.
These are all true things! We need to reckon with them!
These are all true things! We need to reckon with them!
But it's interesting to me how these upper-level discussions keep leaving their key point unsaid:
"Us adults can't get our shit together. So the students should pay the price."
NO, YOU SHOULDN'T.
"Us adults can't get our shit together. So the students should pay the price."
NO, YOU SHOULDN'T.
I came of age in the '08 recession. I watched our elders dick around, fail to fix the economy they broke, & hand the bill to a generation of young folks who might never escape debt.
Damned if they're not doing it again. But with your lives this time too, not just your money.
Damned if they're not doing it again. But with your lives this time too, not just your money.
If it's at all possible, for the love of pete go fully online from the beginning & stay tf off campus.*
If your school's not offering online courses, find one that does.
If your school's not offering online courses, find one that does.
*"But I need to go to campus to get away from a horrible home situation"
This is for you too. If you have to go to campus in person, you're a lot better off going to one that's sparsely populated bc most students switched to online.
This is for you too. If you have to go to campus in person, you're a lot better off going to one that's sparsely populated bc most students switched to online.
"But my school's online classes are crap/expensive"
Yeah you might need to find a new school temporarily & transfer credits.
The good news is schools that are good at online (real state schools w online programs, NOT Uni of Phoenix shit) tend to be cheap & easy to enroll in.
Yeah you might need to find a new school temporarily & transfer credits.
The good news is schools that are good at online (real state schools w online programs, NOT Uni of Phoenix shit) tend to be cheap & easy to enroll in.
Look for community colleges & lower-tier state uni's in your state.
They tend to already have a lot of online teaching. That's because they're at the bottom of state budget priorities, so they've been doing online as a cost-cutting measure for years. They know their shit.
They tend to already have a lot of online teaching. That's because they're at the bottom of state budget priorities, so they've been doing online as a cost-cutting measure for years. They know their shit.
Prestigious, higher-end schools haven't had to go online.
So when COVID hit, they were unprepared. Switching suddenly to remote teaching led to a huge hit in the quality of education many were able to deliver.
Meanwhile profs at cheaper schools are already pro's at online.
So when COVID hit, they were unprepared. Switching suddenly to remote teaching led to a huge hit in the quality of education many were able to deliver.
Meanwhile profs at cheaper schools are already pro's at online.
A great example (gratuitous plug for spouse's job) is Fayetteville State University in NC.
Since it's an HBCU, the state legislature's been trying to starve it to death for over a century! And that's why they're North Carolina's leader in online university education.
Since it's an HBCU, the state legislature's been trying to starve it to death for over a century! And that's why they're North Carolina's leader in online university education.
That's just for NC. But rest assured every state has at least 1 school they've been trying to drown in the bathtub for decades because it creates too much upward mobility, I mean isn't prestigious
They tend to be good at online classes already. For survival.
Find 'em & enroll.
They tend to be good at online classes already. For survival.
Find 'em & enroll.
In summary:
1. "Re-opening campuses" is a scam & everyone involved knows it, or ought to.
2. Young folks, save yourselves. The adults aren't gonna do it.
3. Cheap state/local schools with good online programs abound. Find yours, keep your life on track, & stay safe.
1. "Re-opening campuses" is a scam & everyone involved knows it, or ought to.
2. Young folks, save yourselves. The adults aren't gonna do it.
3. Cheap state/local schools with good online programs abound. Find yours, keep your life on track, & stay safe.
ps: if you're wondering what qualifies an internet rando to make predictions re: epidemiology & institutional behavior
I work in food safety, where epidemiology meets institutional behavior.
You get a 6th sense for what "orgs planning to externalize outbreak costs" look like
I work in food safety, where epidemiology meets institutional behavior.
You get a 6th sense for what "orgs planning to externalize outbreak costs" look like
