Member-only story
What it’s like to start grad school during a pandemic
Building relationships in a virtual world
I’m going to be a doctor. Not a medical doctor, but I’m pursuing a doctor of business administration (DBA). Back in the before times, I discovered this program, decided it was for me, applied, and interviewed. It’s designed for working adults and accepts students from anywhere, so the in-class time (residency) happens one weekend a month.
I’d had the first weekend residency (the first weekend of November) on the calendar since I was accepted to the program nearly a year prior. I had my outfit picked out in February! But the pandemic changed our plans a bit. (Including the outfit I had picked — I skipped the dress and went with something a little less formal since I wasn’t leaving my house!)
Those two days I spent 9 hours in front of a computer on zoom. That’s a lot like the work reality of a lot of the professional world right now. It was somehow both exhausting and energizing.
My class includes a cohort of 22 students. We’re all anxious to get to know each other, and that’s going to work differently for us than it does for a typical cohort that has in-person meeting time. But I think we’ve done some smart things that are going to help us bond.
