Brianna Yacovelli

Being quarantined at home has forced college students to navigate classes on-line. By using video conferencing and loads of emails, the mode of communication turns strictly to technology.

This is also seen through the multiple internships that were in the midst of being completed. College juniors and seniors were just getting the hang of working when COVID-19 sent us all packing.

Since the tide turned to home, internships also had to adapt. By mimicking the college class route, most jobs turned to video conferencing and telecommuting to allow students to complete their internship

What is Telecommuting?

Telecommuting is simply just working from home or a remote location. This means work is getting done all through technology.

Emails, Zoom calls, phone calls, and shared documents allow workers to engage with their employers and still be able to complete their tasks.

For obvious reasons, students have been forced into telecommuting whether they wanted it or not; however, not everyone is able to adjust their work online.

Perks of Being a Telecommuter

One of the best parts for a college student telecommuter is still being able to work during times of crisis, like now. By working from home, students are able to work on their own schedule.

This is crucial because of how drastic our daily lives have changed. While going out is being restricted, taking college classes online has deemed difficult.

Many students report that professors are assigning more work than before and teaching themselves in the new form of learning. Because of this, many students’ schedules have changed.

By being able to telecommute, working hours are able to be shifted to accompany class schedules.

Another benefit of telecommuting is still able to get as much experience as you can out of the situation. While it may not be the best-case scenario, working from home gives a different experience to the college student.

Problems Start to Arise

While working from home sounds great, there are a lot of downsides. Maura O’Malley, 21’ Temple, highlights in the video interview how telecommuting can be negative.

“Not doing [work] in the real setting, I think will be pretty challenging.”

Not having a hands-on experience can be a crucial downfall of telecommuting.

Luckily O’Malley is a designer so transferring over to telecommuting isn’t too hard. However, Dylan Larkin, Naval Academy, is unable to even switch to telecommunications.

Sometimes, internships are made to be hands-on and depending on the field of work, need to be hands-on.

For those that were denied internships, many have been set back in their education, and have been pushed off track.

So On-line College?

From the perspective of college students, telecommuting it has been extremely beneficial and a life-saver while for others has been a letdown.

For working college students, whether they are telecommuting or not, it has all been an adjustment in our daily lives.