Going from an extremely tense and highly physical environment to the relative calm of one’s own living room should be a prize of its own but not for former active-duty military. Students share their experiences on trying to adapt from being on active duty to online classes.
“It is as if you were to take a speed dial from ten and crank it all the way down to four,” said Michael Rule, a veteran and computer science major at Old Dominion University, as he reflects on his move from life in the US Navy to one of online learning.
“The appeal of it wore off halfway through my first semester back at school. There were times I would literally pace in my apartment just to get my body moving,” said Shannon Earl, also a verteran, and a civil engineering major at Old Dominion University.
From personal experience, I spent six years in the United States Navy, four years of which I spent aboard the fast-paced setting of a destroyer.
Going from a life where I was performing seven-plus jobs outside of my actual job title every day, and working closely with 299 of my shipmates, to a life sitting behind a computer screen where I might see just one other student with their camera on is a bit of a jarring experience.
“At first, it was a welcomed change. I was excited to relax, sit back, stare at a screen, and take some notes,” said Earl.
The slowing of pace is initially welcomed by most veteran students, but the lack of socializing stemming from online learning changes starts to wear on them.
Being in an environment where the landscape was constantly shifting helped myself and other sailors become accustomed to change. It created the ability to adapt to many different scenarios. This may seem like a positive, but the change of pace may be at odds with a sailor’s former rate (occupational specialty).
“So, it is a bit of both helping and hindering. Helping because I was more easily able to adapt to the overall change and hindering because of the change at which that pace came to a screeching halt,” said Rule.
Becoming highly adaptable in military life helps with the transition to online classes but becomes uncomfortable when there is little else to adapt to.
“I think the average pace of a day in my rate hindered my acclimation to online learning. I didn’t get the ability to learn how to balance a ‘normal’ workload, and gain the technical skills needed to adapt to a virtual work environment. My mindset has also had to shift from reactive to proactive, which has been difficult to break,” said Earl.
“It may seem counter productive, but I time block “breaks” in my days where I schedule myself to do nothing. I’ll keep operating at full speed if I don’t do this. I really enjoy the lack of supervision. It is a change because everything is self motivated now, but all the work that I’m doing will help me grow into the role I want to be in; not the role that the military wants me to be, both professionally and personally,” said Earl.
Although the change in pace has faltered some of us new veteran students, like our active duty days, we will adapt and overcome this new challenge and we will prevail.