January 1st marked 5 years since January 1st 2020. In case you’ve slept since then, 2020 was a wild year for everyone. In, 5 years since COVID: 2020 Year In Review, we’ll revisit the challenges of adapting to new ways of education, the first cases of COVID, celebrity deaths, Australian wildfires and more. While the 5-year mark of the global pandemic declaration isn’t until March, let’s take a look back at everything that took place nearly half a decade ago in 2020.
What kind of educational impact did COVID-19 have? If you had the chance to read my Graduating Class of COVID article in May 2024, you got a glimpse of how educators and students were forced to adapt to schooling from home. Being a teacher’s kid myself, I had firsthand experience of an educator navigate teaching from home, sitting at a desk with a laptop for most of the school day despite not being able to interact 1-on-1 time with students. Additionally, educators across the US, not just locally, had to overcome the challenges of technology to provide their students with the best education possible.
From March 12th to March 25th, 2020 all schools in the US closed their doors for what they thought would be an extra week of spring break. By May 6th, 2020 nearly all states in the US closed their schools and universities for the ‘19-‘20 school year. However, this did not mean that learning stopped. Thanks to today’s technology accessibility, many schools were able to continue operating virtually with applications like Zoom, Google Classroom, Google Meets, etc.
Looking at the effect COVID had locally here at SWOSU, on March 12th, 2020, SWOSU announced: “As a precautionary and protective measure, SWOSU is transitioning all in-person classes to an online learning environment for the two-week period following Spring Break, beginning Monday, March 23 through Friday, April 3.”
Similar updates continued in several emails sent to SWOSU students, faculty and staff until March 21st, 2020. On March 21st, 2020, Former SWOSU President Randy Beutler announced that “Southwestern Oklahoma State University is moving to FULLY VIRTUAL COURSE DELIVERY FOR THE REMAINDER OF SPRING SEMESTER 2020. This decision was made to further our efforts to reduce the number of individuals on campus.” In this email, it was also announced that “Graduation ceremonies that were scheduled to take place in May will be postponed. This decision was based on the recommendations of the CDC to cancel/postpone large group events. We are discussing possible modifications and options that will allow us to honor our graduates and celebrate their achievements at a late date.”
Faculty, Staff, and Students continued to be updated on food and service refunds, updates about clinicals and internships, housing updates, etc. On May 4th, 2020, an email announced that “SWOSU INTENDS TO RESUME IN-PERSON TEACHING FOR THE FALL 2020 SEMESTER” An email sent by Randy Beutler 4 days later, would congratulate the college graduating class of 2020. “Finally, I would like to personally congratulate all of the 2019-20 SWOSU graduates! Good luck in your future endeavors and come back to visit your alma mater. I hope that you will consider participating in our commencement ceremonies, which are now scheduled for Saturday, December 12. More details about this graduation ceremony will be announced later.”
On July 6th, 2020, the fall schedule was announced. “Classes will start on the currently scheduled date – Monday, August 17. Campus will be closed on Labor Day, Monday, September 7. SWOSU will cancel Fall Break and classes will meet on October 15 and 16. Commencement will be held on November 20-21 with limited guest participation. More details will be announced soon on the website. Classes will meet as usual on November 23 and 24. After Thanksgiving Break, in order to minimize the spread of the COVID-19 virus from potential holiday travel, all classes will transition to virtual. We will have three days of virtual Dead Days, Nov. 30-Dec. 2. Virtual finals will start on Thursday, December 3, and end on Wednesday, December 9.”
As we reflect on the pandemic that occurred nearly 5 years ago, it’s clear that it’s impacted our world in more ways than one, and will be shared with many generations to come. The educational atmosphere in particular was endlessly affected as students were forced to adapt to distance learning in more ways than one.
Coming up in 5 years since COVID: 2020 Year In Review, we’ll explore the earliest discovered cases of COVID-19, the devastating loss of life, and the unique experiences of births and growing up amidst a global pandemic, shaping a generation in ways no one could have ever imagined.
