As more schools begin to open, allowing more students to resume in-person learning, some students are finding their performance worse or better on-campus.

Now half-way through the Spring 2022 semester, it's been about seven months since Santa Monica College (SMC) has fully reopened its campus for academic and extracurricular activities. This semester has seen about 9,500, or between 35 and 40 percent of all students, having at least one on-ground class.

Some SMC students like Melany Arguello, have felt distance learning has impeded them from achieving their full potential when it comes to academics.

“I like it better offline because there are a lot less distractions...When you're at home you can turn off your camera and mess around," said Arguello.

Arguello further explained her benefits from taking classes on ground, “You also form better connections with your teachers when you're on campus."

Arguello expressed dissatisfaction with her college life due to Covid-19, opting to wait until Covid-19 cases drop even more before transferring to a university. Arguello also felt there was a lack of effort put into online classes compared to on-ground, which led to a more boring experience for her.

However, it seems that most students at SMC had no trouble adapting to a remote style of learning.

According to SMC Vice President of Academic Affairs, Bradley Lane, "In terms of student performance during most of the pandemic, we didn’t really see big changes in the percent of students passing courses."

Lane reported that about sixty to seventy percent of students move on from one term to the next, "those percentages have remained pretty steady, even during the pandemic."

Although, Lane did further explain that they saw a big increase in the number of excused withdrawals, which hit a high point during the Spring 2021 semester. Lane theorized that the huge spike could have been from students having difficulty adjusting to an online infrastructure. He then stated that the numbers started to return to normal levels in the Fall 2021 semester.

Cindy Marino, a Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM) sophomore student, has a different opinion, and has felt that distance learning hasn’t had any significant change in her academics.

"Before the pandemic I would definitely spend more time at school, stay after school hours to get help on my homework, study more...I would definitely say I was more of a studious person", said Marino.

When asked how Marino felt her performance would be if she were to return to distance learning "If I were to go back, I feel my grades would be the same."

"I felt distance learning made things a bit harder because I'm the type of person who likes doing their work at school," said Marino. Marino further expressed that while she doesn’t mind remote learning, she feels in-person is more fun.

As more students return to campus each semester those who preferred in-person learning are able to continue their academics on-ground, while individuals who find online more suitable can remain home.

No matter student preference, SMC will continue to offer both styles of learning for the foreseeable future.

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