The year of 2020 has been a memorable year, but in all the wrong ways. The COVID-19 pandemic at one point shut down the world, entirely and kept many of us from attending college in person. For many of us here at Dean, it would have been our First Semester in college, perhaps the four most important years in our lives. Unfortunately, the first semester was switched to online instead of being in person due to rising cases in COVID-19. The first semester is nearly over, and I wanted to interview a fellow freshman about their experiences for the first semester. Brett Chaves is a freshman from Taunton, Massachusetts who like me, majors in Sports Broadcasting, so I decided to ask him what he thought about Dean.
Q: What attracted you to Dean and how did that help you decide your major?
A: The big thing that attracted me to Dean was the opportunities I would have right out of the gate that I would not have at other schools. Professor Rooke told me that at Dean we would get to be behind the mic as soon as we got here.
Q: In your opinion, have your professors done a good job with teaching in a virtual environment?
A: I definitely think so, a lot of my teachers have adjusted the course schedule, that allows us to complete our work and take care of things in our lives outside school.
Q: What class would you say has stood out to you at Dean this first semester?
A: To me, definitely Digital Audio and Communication Fundamentals. Digital Audio has allowed me to get my feet wet with that field of digital audio, and I am starting to get really interested in it. In Communication Fundamentals, Dr Myers is a very good teacher and he has helped me out a lot with delivering speeches to a crowd.
Q: What are the differences in learning style you have noticed between in person high school and virtual college?
A: The biggest thing I would say is independent learning. In high school we were guided through and told what to do and how to study. In college, we are on our own where we can choose our studying techniques and work around our schedule instead of the teachers.
Q: You said you are a major in Sports Broadcasting, how has being off campus affected that?
A: I think the biggest thing is not being able to commentate, we are being encouraged to commentate on old games and video games if we play them, but it is different from being behind the mic in real life.
Q: The first semester if almost over but if you had to choose to do it over again, would you still do your first semester virtually or would you wait until college was fully in person?
A: I would probably stick to virtual. If I had waited until the spring, I may have had a better experience, but I would have been behind the ball in terms of learning and skill.