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Life as we know it changed in March when the news started to tell us about COVID-19. Suddenly, we were being told to wash our hands, wear masks and stay inside our own homes. Businesses were closing. Then came the news that we wouldn’t be returning to finish our spring semester, and this
is when challenges started to arise. Not only did this affect students but faculty and staff as well.

Grand View Speech Lecturer Amy Pettit said the whole process has been a “learning curve.” As she planned for the fall, she had to try to figure out what the year would look like for her students via Zoom classes. She had to lay out many scenarios for class in her planning. Pettit said that COVID-19 “did not make for a relaxing summer.”

Not only did this affect her at Grand View but also at home. Pettit and her husband had to decide if it was safe to send their son off to his freshman year of college. What would it look like? Would he be OK? Her husband is a principal in the Southeast Polk school district, and he had his own concerns. He spent the summer considering all the factors of running a school and the challenges that COVID-19 would present to him.

Taking classes online is a new way for teachers and students to experience the classroom. Pettit said that teaching during the pandemic has been very different as she has had to make changes in dates for homework and speeches. Even learning the new Hy-Flex schedule presents its own challenges.

For Zeb Sullivan, Professor of Kinesiology, the biggest adjustment has been working around his elementary kids’ schedules. Sullivan’s kids all attend Ankeny Schools, where they are also on a hybrid model for classes. His wife is now working from home full time in order to supervise their kids on the days they are home for online learning.

“A positive I’ve gotten from all of this is that I get to spend more time with my family on certain days,” Sullivan said.

In the Communication department, Professor KC McGinnis has had an easier time moving his classes online than he expected. McGinnis said that he is emotionally excited and really likes the new Hy-Flex Model. One positive for McGinnis is that under circumstances when he would have had to cancel classes previously, he can now simply hold class virtually. He is optimistic about what this year will bring for student progress despite the potential stress from the Hy-Flex model. At home, the transition for McGinnis’ family has been a little less stressful since his wife is a full-time mom to their young children.

COVID-19 has certainly changed lives in the last six months. We are still learning the effects of the pandemic and what kind of an impact it will have on people. Here at Grand View, professors have been trying to keep classes as normal as possible while learning, creating, stressing and balancing their own new lives.

“Obviously, it’s not ideal but it’s the new normal,” McGinnis said.