“Zoom University” ushered in a new set of social standards that has had under one year to develop. To help out students across campus, I’ve compiled the most pressing social issues of our time with the hope of saving individual students’ embarrassment, professor’s patience, and your peers’ sanity. Here it is.
- By all means, mismatch your outfits and wear those sweatpants on bottom. But turn off your camera if you get up.
Dressing used to be simple. Business professional for work meetings, casual attire for hanging out with friends, and somewhere in between for Hillsdale classes. But Zoom classes have taken a toll on the Hillsdale student’s sense of fashion — namely, the bottom half of their wardrobe.
An article from Sass Magazine describes this new half-dressed spirit as a sort of social privilege: you get to appear put-together while sporting sweatpants and slippers underneath it all.
“And since your screen only shows you from the chest up, you don’t have to wear a full suit or outfit. Wear your hair and makeup like you normally would for work and put on a nice top. But, that’s it! Go ahead and wear your sweats or pajama pants, the people on your screen will never know.”
Hillsdale students have embraced this new fashion standard with open arms, illustrated by this month’s sorority recruitment. While freshmen girls going through the rushing process and full-fledged sorority members were adorned in their nicest blouses with full makeup and hair done to impress, the top-notch style only persisted as far as the screen did. From the waist down, sweatpants and slippers reigned supreme.
Although I don’t discourage this new partial form of dressing, but rather actively partake in it myself, I think it would behoove everyone who participates to be wary of how much the screen sees.
- Learn how to unmute yourself before you begin to talk.
We’ve all been there. Eighteen heads in their little block screens are staring at you. Some are pointing at you, trying to use some primitive form of sign language to communicate they can’t hear. Stress builds. You feel flustered and end up forgetting your point.
It takes a lot of nerve for some students to ask or answer a question in class. As a shy student, it requires me to muster a bit of courage in class prior to contributing anything to class discussion. When such a courageous act is trampled by merely forgetting to unmute yourself, it’s not only incredibly frustrating for you but also just plain annoying for everyone in class.
You would think after two semesters of partial-Zoom courses one would know better than to begin speaking without pressing the little microphone button in the corner for the umpteenth time, yet here we are.
- Choose your classroom location carefully.
Zoom University implies another struggle: finding the actual university location where you choose to pursue your virtual studies.
Protocol calls for sitting upright in a desk that is at least semi-private. Of course, many students have roommates and just do not have the physical capabilities to take courses in an isolated location. While that provides some grace in choosing where you post up for hours at a time, too many have gotten comfortable sitting in really poor places for their meetings.
Sitting at a table in AJ’s Cafe during the lunch rush offers little opportunity for concentration. Assuming you respect your studying peers, Mossey Library’s quiet levels aren’t conducive to discussion. Even the top floor is a bad idea: you never know who else in “heaven” might be talking when you need to unmute yourself. Before you know it, your whole class is hearing about the sandwich Joe at the next table over got at Grab n’ Go.
Zoom U. opens the door to ignore typical classroom etiquette, but staying engaged is still important. If a student is laying in bed appearing to be asleep, chances are he is getting little out of the lecture. It should go without saying that paying attention in class goes a long way for how your grades turn out.
And if you absolutely have to be in a very public place, at least put those earbuds in. Nobody else needs to hear your class discussion.
Allison Schuster is a senior studying politics. She is the associate editor for the Collegian.
