When Kayla Kluemper went home to Fort Wright, Kentucky the summer after her freshman year, she did not think she would be staying there for the next seven months. A Health Sciences major with a Pre-Physician’s Assistant emphasis, Kayla has been attending her classes this year completely remote from over 2,000 miles away.

“Going to school remote has definitely had its positive and negative sides,” Kayla said. She mentioned that staying on top of her work load has gotten more difficult while at home. “Being at home without the physical presence of classmates or professors adds a new element of responsibility,” she said.

Kayla has been able to keep herself accountable over the last few months, but knows that many other students have struggled due to the lack of the typical structured classroom environment.

Kayla said that she feels as though she has more time to plan out her studying because she is not nearly as busy with volleyball practices and matches, but that she also sees that as a downside. “Not being with friends or other people to collaborate with definitely makes it difficult sometimes,” she said.

Burnout, she said, is a real feeling. “I feel like I am completely in charge of my learning, but I have definitely felt burnt out with the online setting. One big advantage of going to Chapman was the smaller class sizes to maximize collaboration and relationships with classmates and professors.” Something, she said, hasn’t been able to happen quite as well in the online setting.

One thing Kayla has been a fan of is structuring her day. “Having asynchronous classes allows you to structure your day: should you watch all your lectures before you work out, or vice versa? Should you get class and homework done during the day and maybe work a job at night? Being a student-athlete especially, my life needs structure for me to feel productive and organized, so having this handle on my daily schedule has been pretty nice.”

Another big thing Kayla has had to get used to? The time change. When she made her schedule last spring, she did not anticipate going to class remote from three hours ahead. “The time change helped me in both good and bad ways,” she said.

“My 8:30 AM classes started at 11:30 AM, and I have enjoyed that a lot because I have been able to get my workouts done every day before class. On the other hand, my night class goes from 10 PM to 12:50 AM, so that isn’t too fun, but coffee gets me through!”

Online learning has been an incredible adjustment for everyone, especially our student-athletes as they juggle school and home workouts. Kayla is just one example of Chapman student-athletes persevering through this uncertain time.