Radford University students decide on virtual classes

RADFORD, Va. (WDBJ) - In Radford, COVID-19 cases have grown by 116 since Monday. The city now has 282 cases.

We caught up with three Radford University students who made the difficult decision to take classes from home.

“College campuses are a breeding ground for illnesses, especially with a pandemic,” said sophomore Abbi Morin.

Morin is staying home in Richmond, worried about protecting her family from getting sick.

“My mom is high-risk category, so is my dad, so I am hyper aware of the people around me,” Morin said.

Jordan Storberg is a sophomore staying home in Roanoke. Originally, she said she was thinking about commuting to campus when she had in-person classes, but decided to do everything virtually.

“I was definitely looking forward to going back. It’s changed a lot of things, but I’m glad I’m staying home,” Storberg said.

Sophomore Jessica Britton says she was put on a waitlist to take her classes online, so after a few days in person on campus, she decided to transfer to New River Community College online. She is living at home in Floyd.

“I wanted to stay as healthy as I can to keep working and make money to pay for school, as well as being able to go to school,” Britton said. “Radford didn’t have me on their list of priorities to get my classes switched to online.”

But taking classes online comes with its own set of challenges. All three say building your own schedule around prerecorded lectures is the hardest part.

“I’m in my foundation classes right now, if I don’t learn what I need to right now how am I going to build on top of that later?” Morin said.

And if your class happens at a designated time, it can be hard to ask questions.

“In one of my classes there’s like 75 people on the Zoom meetings so I can’t interrupt and ask a question, so I have to wait for my professor to email me back,” Storberg said.

The students say they’re disappointed in their peers who have violated health guidelines on campus.

“I just wish people had a little more compassion for others and thought about the risks that come with it,” Morin said.

All are glad they made the choices they did this semester.

“I definitely wish that we were all back on campus, but I’m glad that I decided to stay home,” Storberg said.

The students say they hope to be back on campus in the spring. Britton said she plans to transfer back to Radford from NRCC.

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