Aspiring Teachers Share Struggles With Fallout From COVID-19

Silence surrounded 21-year-old Catherine Copps as the computer screen’s harsh light glared back at her face. Copps is a junior at UW-Oshkosh aspiring to be a high school math teacher. Alone, she stared out of her apartment window at the gloomy skies, hoping for motivation to get through fall semester. 

“I’m kind of just really sad that this whole college experience is falling apart, and I don’t know what’s going to happen,” said Copps.

The COVID-19 pandemic brought with it oodles of uncertainty; online classes, fading mental health, living situation challenges and job security are only a portion of the struggles college students are undertaking in this unprecedented time. 

Copps says her largest challenge has been dealing with her emotional well-being.

“This whole pandemic has really triggered mental health issues I’ve had in the past,” said Copps. “One of my biggest coping mechanisms is being surrounded by people.”

She said her mental health was under control for a while, but after the pandemic started, she felt it dwindling because she couldn’t be around others.

“It’s really hard for me to meet deadlines for classes and to find the motivation to do a lot of things because I find myself having anxiety or depression during the day and it’s too hard for me to focus on my assignments,” said Copps.

As a math major, she needs hands-on training in the classroom and now she says she has to learn most of the material on her own. Some of her professors are extremely helpful and others are not at all, according to Copps. 

“I feel like I have professors who are just amazing and doing the best they can, and others have just given up and it’s kind of like a fend for yourself situation,” said Copps.

With high hopes of returning to normal every-day life, Copps knows the first thing she will do when the pandemic is over. 

“I’m just going to be like hugging, high-fiving, fist bumping, elbow bumping with everyone,” said Copps. “On a serious note, I’m going to try to re-establish strong connections with people and tell them how much they mean to me.”

Copps is concerned that joyful day won’t arrive until after spring semester and she said if classes are online in the fall, she is prepared to shift her graduation date back.

“I’m not interested in doing class virtually because even though it might give me the credits, I need to graduate it’s not really going to prepare me for my future career,” said Copps. “I can’t be confident going into teaching if all my experience is virtual.” 

Nicole Pomasl, a 22-year-old junior at UWM, wants to be a high school English teacher and is also concerned about fall classes being online because of the experience in classrooms required for her degree. She said that it’s ultimately up to the state to decide if certain requirements for the education license can be waived. 

“If they decide that they are not going to make us do this service then I would still be on track to graduate, but if they decide that we need to push it back and make up this lost time then it would delay me getting my degree,” said Pomasl. 

She is supposed to have fieldwork in the fall to build her experience. 

“Missing out on the opportunity would definitely be devastating and I definitely would feel a lot less prepared going into my student teaching,” said Pomasl. 

Pomasl also wasn’t prepared for her rapid move home. She thought she was only going home for spring break, so she only packed a small bag. She ended up staying home with very few of her things for an extended period of time.   

She rents a house near UWM with roommates and no one is living there because of the severity of coronavirus in Milwaukee, but they are all still paying rent, which has been a challenge. 

“My hours were cut by a lot which definitely does make it more difficult to make ends meet, but it does help that I’m staying at home right now too,” said Pomasl. 

Being at home is not ideal for her, but it is necessary, she said.

“It’s not something I would ever choose for myself,” said Pomasl. “I really don’t enjoy being in this position, but I am just thankful that we are able to stay safe.”

She misses simple things from her Milwaukee lifestyle like being with her friends, going out to eat, or having a night out with the girls.

Sondra Van Zeeland, a 21-year-old junior at Edgewood College, hopes to become an elementary teacher and also misses being social. She thrived on her busy lifestyle. She participated in track, volunteered, worked and was a full-time student. 

“It was just one thing after another and that’s what really got me out of my bed in the morning,” said Van Zeeland. 

Another motivator for her was being around kids. She taught third graders for her practicum and she volunteered with fifth graders twice a week. She also had weekly one on one time with a first grade student who has autism. 

In addition to college courses, she was at an elementary school at least five times a week. She said that each day she looked forward to seeing students’ tiny faces excited to see her. 

“I really miss that because you had to be super creative and it was always lots of fun with lots of laughter and they kept me on my toes,” said Van Zeeland. 

Her favorite activity with the third graders was Friday morning read aloud. As students ate their breakfast, she would read to them, watching their faces mesmerized by the story.

She also loved the humor they brought to her day. Recently, after a lesson on conservation, a student told her that it’s really important not to waste food – especially hot dogs. He added that he can eat one in less than two minutes.  

Her days filled with humor and enthusiasm have faded since the school doors closed. She hasn’t seen any of the children since the shutdown. She waits for the days she will get to see their smiling faces again – the days she used to call normal.