The Untold Stories of a Nursing Student

Sabaw by Reese's

Everyone's trying to cope with the change from face-to-face classes into online learning. Of course, nobody is used to being confined within the four corners of their laptop or tablet for the entire day.

Just kidding.

We love using our gadgets. We use social media to try and connect with others. You could also play video games as a pastime. There are streaming platforms available to watch and discover stuff.

We're just not fond of academics invading our supposed nirvana.

...and that's the biggest problem.

Online learning, when done right, is an extremely helpful method of education. You no longer have to race against heavy traffic just to attend a lecture. You also have the luxury of saving time by cutting down on minutes spent walking through one corridor after another. You also don't need to spend that much.

Problem is, life ain't perfect. Adding insult to injury, life will smack an entire lemon tree if you live in developing countries. I'll be frank—online learning sucks. Add the lack of clinical exposure and the lack of proper resources to perform return demonstrations to the already failing internet quality and you get the hell hole we currently have to endure. Worst of all, we may end up being too incompetent to work decently once we become registered nurses.

It's an existential dread, thank you very much.

The terrible internet connectivity was largely due to the sudden influx of internet subscribers. Before the pandemic, you don't have everyone racing to get their very own home internet. Usually, mobile data or broadband was enough. It is only when people realized how much cell service providers sucked big time when used inside cramped households when they decided to switch. Oh, the horror of no longer experiencing half-bad internet speeds.

It's been a year already since we made the leap of faith. Things just don't seem to get any better nor worse. Life is on stasis. By the time this entry is being written, we're almost done with our second year of suffering. Can't wait for more disappointment.

I could say the same with our internet providers. They ditch you the time you need them the most. By far, I've lost connection during important lectures, two graded recitations, and at least three video presentations. Whenever we experience bumps like these, our university has provided a dreadful abbreviation to type out: UC.

Our professors pronounce it as /you-see/, by literally spelling out the abbreviation. It stands for Unstable Connection. That very acronym became the bane of every professor and student. By that, some students abused the abbreviation to the point of our professors doubting the credibility of students that claim such. It's simply not fun to have your already-rapping professor suddenly sound like a robot or a chipmunk while blasting verses at the speed of light.

I couldn't blame their paranoia. You too would be fuming mad if you see your students complaining about their connection while having no problem whatsoever in sharing memes on Facebook or even make a TikTok video of themselves dancing to whatever dance fad that's trending.

Of all the professors I've dealt with during our change to online classes, Professor Isaac has been one of the biggest slanders to the entire Nursing department of my university. If you're looking for toxic and disgusting traits, he's got it all. Perverted? Check. Obnoxious? Double-check. Sadistic and manipulative? Don't even ask.

He's the type of professor that doesn't have the slightest idea what he's supposed to be. If you ask me, he'd be better off six feet under than left alive. But for legal purposes, that's a joke. He's just so frustrating to even think of. He tries so hard to look amicable and friendly but you get that creepy-perverted-middle-adult aura that for some reason he's so proud of.