3 Challenges & Victories of Being a Student During Covid-19

As a first year medical student, I can honestly say that this has been a bizarre start to a new chapter. As I reflect on 2020, I find it necessary to step back and take in the entirety of the turbulence. It’s crazy to think that this time last year, I was completing my post-bacc and eagerly anticipating my interview for a spot in the ND program. Today, I’m here - sitting in my living room and preparing for my second round of med school finals; many of which will be conducted online.

Being a student during COVID has been a welcome shift from the chaos of working in small business prior to this. Although there are certainly challenges inherent to the current circumstances, there are also some silver linings to find comfort in. My experience thus far has exceeded expectations; however, I find it necessary to acknowledge that this is not the case for everyone.

Some personal challenges that I have experienced as a medical student at home are as follows:

1. I have a Kindergartener who I am concurrently facilitating distance learning for.
2. As a relatively extroverted personality type, my social and emotional needs are not consistently met.
3. I’ve discovered that Zoom fatigue is a real thing.

Some surprising wins that I have experienced during this time:

1. My life feels like it’s more balanced than it has been in a long time. Without needing to commute Monday through Friday, I am finding that I have plenty of time and bandwidth for everything that I need to accomplish throughout the week.
2. I get to watch my daughter’s learning unfold. This is a gift that I wouldn’t have been able to witness as closely, had we both been in physical classrooms.
3. I’ve discovered some creative ways to ensure that I can still learn effectively, even though distance learning is not ideal for visual/tactile learning styles. Art has become such an enormous part of my learning process, and serves a dual purpose in stress management.