Campus News

Online learning at Rockford University posed an interesting challenge and certainly new and uncharted territory for many of my peers and me. Our University is known for its personal connections and classrooms that thrive with the teacher-student interaction. Not surprisingly, our professors proved to be incredibly accommodating.

For me and my peers, the first challenge was to create a schedule and stay on task. Learning at home comes with many distractions. For example, I’m an avid gamer and I initially struggled to avoid being distracted by that. However, after a few weeks of adapting to a new way of learning, I developed a system to stay focused and get my work done.

The next challenge was maintaining the close sense of community that students experience on campus. The student activities staff really stepped up to support us. We built a virtual community on Facebook where we met for video chats, played trivia games, and came together with other students, faculty and staff as a community. We missed the opportunity to experience some amazing on-campus events, but the virtual experience helped keep us together. 

As I reflect about how this strange period of unfamiliarity affected Rockford University students, it is clear to me that this time away from campus did not weaken our community. In many ways, it strengthened our bonds with each other and with the University.

As the incoming Student Government Association (SGA) president, I am eager to return to campus. I believe spending this time at home will provide students with the motivation to attend as many events on campus as possible. I look forward to being able to walk into the Den and have face-to-face conversations with students, listen to their concerns, answer their questions, and most importantly, have a friendly conversation. The bonds among students, professors, and every member of the University are strong, and that makes Rockford University the amazing community that it is.

See you soon,

Tanner Elliott