As we all know Brookdale along with most other colleges went completely online for the rest of the semester. Students had to deal with their own learning styles and preferences and adjust. Some students are graduating or transitioning in their lives and really needed this semester in order to get one step closer to graduation.

Absolutely everyone is trying to figure out their home life. With all that focus on students, we sometimes forget about what the professors are doing to adjust to this changing environment.

“As a father of three young children, it has absolutely become more difficult. Sending them to school and going to campus was my chance to escape and focus on my own work,” said Professor Chad Anderson, an associate professor in the communications department. “Personally I definitely have lots of fears about the health and well-being of my family and people I care about.”

“Mostly my concerns are for when things can return to normal. How long will this last? Will this year’s graduates get the chance to walk at commencement? Will students continue to enroll for classes in the Summer and Fall?” said Dr. George Reklaitis, an associate professor in the department of history.

When asked about his personal life Reklaitia had this to say, “Like all major life changes, it has taken some time to learn to adjust, but my wife, three kids and I have started a new routine and are getting used to life in a social-distancing environment. We are definitely missing out on seeing our friends, participating in sports and other extracurricular activities, but enjoying time to go for walks, hikes, and bike rides, playing board games and enjoying movies together. So far so good! (*knocks on wood*)”

“My kids are home more often, but they miss their friends and it shows. I am happy that I don’t have to drive my long commute (70+ miles each way), but I enjoy face-to-face discussions with students and coworkers. I also find it hard to work from my place of living because I’ve always tried hard to separate the work from home (hard to do as a writing professor who has to mark papers, but that’s not quite the same). I’ve taken to sitting at the kitchen table for some work rather than on my couch just to push “work” into its own box,” said Cameron Mount, an assistant professor in the English Department.

“It’s outside the class, actually. The times when I teach are also the times when my own children are in school, so now the times when I have to be available to my students butt up against the needs of my own kids as they struggle to conform to the new normal themselves. My high school-aged daughter is doing better than my fifth-grader mostly because more of the work in high school is independent and online.”

Paula Baier, a speech professor at Brookdale had this piece of advice, “Franklin D. Roosevelt said ‘When you come to the end of your rope, just tie a knot and hang on’. Sounds like great advice… and believe me, If I can do it, everyone can for sure”
Hang in there everybody.