Like every other person on the planet, this pandemic has affected every facet of my life. Professionally, I was two weeks into teaching a seven-week doctoral level course when the University went online, and I had just days to prepare to switch the course to a totally virtual delivery model.  I no longer meet with my graduate students or colleagues in person but communicate with them through Zoom, phone calls, and emails. Personally, I have had to greatly reduce how much I am able to see my children and grandchildren as we all try to limit our exposure to the virus. Sunday dinners with family are currently a thing of the past as well as any visits with extended family and friends. Because I only meet with friends in outside venues, contact with them will not occur until spring when we can be socially distanced outside again or until a vaccine is available.

I do try to stay up with as much information as possible. I read the newspaper daily, receive alerts on my phone/computer, try to watch the national and local evening news each day and read the literature I receive from different professional organization to which I belong. I try to limit the reading I do on any social media platforms.

I try to keep a routine, talk at least daily with a family member or friend, read books that I find enjoyable and lean on my husband for support when I am truly stressed. I have turned my two dogs into emotional support dogs and try to walk them daily. I try to stay as positive as I possibly be can; however, that can sometimes be difficult even for the eternal optimist!

I am semi-retired but work about 20 hours per week for Baker University. All my work is done in my home office, and the work I do can easily be done from home. While my major role for the University is coordinating a program in which I am a department of one, I truly miss seeing colleagues and face-to-face interactions. All doctoral courses have been online since March 2020 and will continue to be so through the Spring 2021 semester. Having no in-person contact with students and faculty has been difficult in building and maintaining trust and positive relationships with each of them.

My husband works from home, and we have a home office set up for him. We contemplated adding me to this space but with conference calls and Zoom meetings for both of us, it didn't seem like an effective set up for either of us. Instead, I have set up office in a large space in our basement. I have a beautiful antique library desk, computer chair, computer, two monitors, phone, and filing cabinet. It is a very comfortable, workable space; however, the natural lighting leaves a little to be desired.

I have an upcoming doctoral course beginning in February 2021. I am going to try some flipped classroom approaches in which the students will read on a given topic and review a voiced over presentation prior to coming to class, and then, a chunk of class time will be spent in developing small group projects related to the topic. I am going to have the students reflect on the weekly readings by creating a weekly video to submit for accountability and to show their individual  understanding of the topic. I will also continue to use a weekly forum for large discussion with students each taking a turn as the forum leaders each week.

All meetings and the course I teach take place via Zoom. As with everything, there are positives and negatives. It's a positive that there is no commute time and I can work in a very quiet relaxed atmosphere. However, I don't have access to an office sized copier for those printing jobs that require a professional look. A negative is that some days, it can be tiring moving from meeting to meeting and sitting in front of a computer screen for stretches of time. There are just some meetings that are more conducive to meeting face-to-face. So it's hard to say whether working through Zoom is better or worse...it's just different. And we are so very lucky to have this option during the pandemic. I can only imagine what could have happened if this pandemic occurred even 10-15 years ago.  

I meet with my advisees on a regular basis through Zoom and email them between meetings so they know I am there to support them. We talk about how they are coping not only with the doctoral workload but in their jobs in their school districts. They know I am only an email away if they need anything at all.

Our dean and others have been instrumental in keeping us all connected through weekly Zoom meeting called "Wowser Wednesdays". I have actually learned more about everyone through this weekly contact. The meeting is light and fun and allows us to see everyone on a consistent basis. I also meet with the doctoral faculty several times per month for our faculty meetings and our accreditation meetings. In addition, I engage with my colleagues through one-on-one Zoom meetings and through emails. I feel that I have had great support and I hope that I am providing that support for others too.

I have received training on YuJa on the Moodle platform that will help as I begin to prepare for my February course. I plan to use the app in adding some student accountability to assigned readings by having the students videotape reflections and summaries on the assigned readings.

My "superpowers" are my patience, optimism and understanding that "this too shall pass". While there are so many obstacles and challenges during the pandemic, I know that we are bound to see some needed changes and some incredible lessons learned from what we have experienced over the last year. I doubt that we will ever regain the "normal" that we left behind in March 2020, but hopefully, we will have an new improved normal based on what we have learned!

I do believe that much of the work that I do can be done from home, and I can imagine that others feel the same. This may result in the need for less office space in a brick and mortar building. I also believe that we will find that some of the courses that we teach can be delivered via a combination of in person (we need to build those relationships) and virtual (yes, we can be efficient) modalities. As for my personal life, I just wait for the days for unlimited adventures with my children and grandchildren. I look forward to seeing friends and extended family in person.

I will remember my daily checks of new cases and deaths from Covid-19 across the county, state and nation. I will remember the abrupt change in delivering my course from in person for many/Zoom for some to Zoom for all. I will remember the frustration of the students when we initially went to virtual learning for all students. I will remember the desire to see the inside of a restaurant and how much I actually cooked during the pandemic. I will remember the social unrest and the election of our lifetimes. I will remember the collaboration and support of colleagues. I will remember the pandemic fatigue that plagued us all, and I hope I will remember when we started to realize we were truly turning the corner and could see the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel in terms of the pandemic ending!

Nothing says Halloween in 2020 Pandemic quite like a well-masked jack-o-lantern!

Figure 1:  Halloween COVID-Style 

Dr. Lanie Bertels Fasulo works as Coordinator of Concurrent Credit Partnerships at Baker University.  Her email is Lanie.Fasulo@bakeru.edu.