Written by Bachelor of Laws/Bachelor of Commerce student, Becci Tannenbaum.
Everyone has an image in their mind of what university life is going to be like. It’s the fantasy that gets you through Year 12; dreams of interactive law lecture banter with Professor Stromwell from Legally Blonde, lunches with your friends by the idyllic lake, countless hours spent in the library, and of course a party or two at Dons. Well, the May semester (we Bondies call it ‘202’) was not that…. But it certainly made me realise how lucky I am to be a Bondy!
To say that the world has been facing unprecedented times is potentially an understatement. Everyone no matter their age, gender, culture or socio-demographic has had to adjust to a new way of life. As a student of Bond University, I am in awe of the efficient, positive and reassuring way the University reacted. The students have always been Bond’s top priority, and this did not falter - even in the eye of COVID-19.
From campus classmates, to virtual buddies
The shift to online learning was seamless. We went from being in class on the Friday to virtual buddies on the Monday! Bond invested heavily in its technologies over the semester break and you could certainly see that when classes resumed in May for the second semester of 2020. Our online learning platform was enhanced, which meant that not only could we access lecture notes, recordings and tutorials online as we always could, but we were now able to engage in interactive online lectures, partake in discussion boards and consult with lecturers. The challenge of encouraging participation in lectures and seminars online was no challenge at all for Bond lecturers. It often felt like we were all sitting together in my home office!
Embracing virtual connections
The assistance and support provided by my lecturers was truly astounding. I even had one lecturer consult with me on a Sunday as we embraced technology connecting us. I have always said that I chose Bond University for the personal attention given to students and I found that many of my friends’ biggest concern was that we would not get one-on-one time during remote learning. In fact, I think that the personal attention was enhanced during this time. As always, the lecturers were invested in us succeeding and did everything in their power to make sure that we were still having the best learning experience possible and accomplishing our goals.
On a social note, despite initial thoughts, I even ended up making more friends! The new environment and lack of desks and rows as physical barriers meant that I got to engage with a variety of new faces whom I hadn’t had the opportunity to speak to before.
Looking to the future
As we move into September (203) with a multimodal format, I have full faith in the educational experience that Bond University will provide. On reflection, I feel that I have even further developed my employability skills as I prepare to graduate in a world that will now favour virtual meetings, and therefore virtual etiquette, over the traditional in-person meeting.
Bring on semester 203!
Learn more about starting at Bond in September
For our September semester, Bond will continue to provide our students with the flexibility to learn on or off campus.