The Normalcy Obsession
Noran Alaa Morsi
Senior English Editor
Over the past few days, posts have been showing up on AUC-centric Facebook groups calling for professors to be lenient with assignments, for the university to consider an option for pass/fail final grades, and for better ways of online learning.
Some may comprehend this as student laziness or an attempt at getting time off. It absolutely isn’t.
At a time of a global pandemic when all are confined to their homes amid new curfews and social distancing, it isn’t realistic to expect that people will be functioning at a normal business-as-usual pace, let alone be adept at self-teaching when professors have yet to learn how to deliver content online to mimic what they do in classrooms.
There are so many factors at hand here. For one, an event like what we’re dealing with brings about immense fear in people. If you’re not afraid of catching the virus, you’re probably afraid of a loved one catching it.
The world being flipped upside down in front of our eyes cannot be comforting to all.
As we speak, the university is trying its best to keep things as normal as possible, and it’s a valiant effort.
But, is that really the goal here?
Are we so obsessed with normalcy that we would risk our own mental health and waste our money on a new type of education, that frankly, doesn’t provide the same level of understanding that in-person classes do, for most departments.
All over the world, different schools have adopted different approaches, some have decided to delay the semester by a couple of months. Some have cancelled it all together. Some have adopted the pass/fail option.
It’s a difficult decision to make.
But maybe this isn’t the time to wrap up a capstone project as quickly as possible, or skimp on last-semester activities for seniors who’ve been here for four or five years.
Unfortunately, I don’t have a one-size fits all solution for you. As a graduating senior, I don’t want to have to retake my classes in the fall and wait to graduate in December. But, just a week into online learning, I can tell by the overwhelming experiences of students around me, that doing things the same way we did them in classrooms on campus is not working.
Maybe assignments should lessen. Maybe assessments should be simplified. The pass/fail grading option sounds good right about now.
Maybe it’s the time to put things on hold, reflect, and stay mentally and physically safe.
