Online learning gives students flexibility to pursue extracurriculars

When Gabriella Schultze isn’t studying, she’s dancing. 

Schultze, a freshman majoring in biological sciences, balances a full course load with training for Ballet West, a dance company based in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Schultze is one of many students who have managed to find a silver lining during a global pandemic. Despite the challenges of a virtual learning environment, many students, such as Shultze, have utilized newfound schedule flexibility to pursue their interests outside of the classroom — from the creation of personal podcast projects to Instagram-based brands and professional ballet dancing.

“I don’t think I would have been able to make it work if it wasn’t for the online opportunity,” Schultze said. Her rehearsals and performances take place in-person, which is possible through precautions such as mask-wearing, distancing and temperature checks.

Schultze has been dancing since she was five years old and was offered her current contract in January 2020 before the onset of the pandemic. Due to her intense training schedule, Schultze initially didn’t think she could embark on her academic journey at USC while dancing. This was until the University announced its plans to go online for Fall 2020.

Currently, Schultze is rehearsing for her role as Cinderella in “The Glass Slipper.” 

“The rehearsal schedule is pretty heavy,” Schultze said, “But thankfully all my classes are late at night so I’m able to fit them in after I rehearse.” 

Schultze shared that she can do some coursework during her daily breaks but often ends up doing most of it on the weekends.

While Schultze was able to utilize the virtual learning environment to pursue her long-time interest while attending USC, other students, such as Maya Robles, forged newer paths.

Robles, a sophomore majoring in public relations and Spanish, began making jewelry in January for her startup brand Fuchsia Peach Rings. 

“The whole reason why I have the time to be making rings and stuff is totally due in part to the pandemic because I am a full-time student and have a job.” Robles said, “So it’s more of a side project.” 

Since she began Fuchsia Peach Rings, Robles has amassed nearly 1,000 followers on the brand’s Instagram account. 

“I would say that like 90% or more of my customers come from following my Instagram,” Robles said.

Robles said online classes give students the ability to multitask, yet when other students are cooking or doing other things, according to Robles, she’s making jewelry. 

“There’s been times where I’ve had my camera off in a class and I’m working on a ring because a drop is coming up,” she said. 

On the Fuchsia Peach Rings website, Robles shares the meaning behind her jewelry: “I am interested in exploring our obsession with making what was old new again, and capturing how this nostalgia displaces itself onto our belongings,” the website reads.

Robles expressed that she has yet to make much of a profit, but a large amount of the proceeds from her sales have been donated to local businesses and charities.

Gabriela Thur De Koos, a junior majoring in cinema and media studies and law, history and culture, decided to begin a podcast with her newfound flexibility. 

Titled “College Confrontational,” the podcast focuses on having a meaningful dialogue about collegiate issues and “reforming the way that we have conversations about maybe more controversial topics or topics that are just very polarizing in general,” she said.

Thur De Koos said the title of the podcast stemmed from wanting to redefine what it means to be confrontational.

“Being confrontational just means learning how to advocate for yourself and to be upfront with where you stand and honest and transparent enough to ask questions when you don’t know the answer or when you don’t understand something,” Thur De Koos said. 

The onset of the pandemic not only gave Thur De Koos more flexibility but  also helped her develop the idea for the podcast. Thur De Koos felt that online learning removed pressure from others and let her focus on what she truly wanted to do.

“I’ve never really thought that I would find myself in a position like this, and while it’s impacted me in a lot of maybe more negative ways, it’s also made me way more creative because I’ve had the time to flesh out ideas and to pursue them,” she said. 

She also pointed out that the shift to online as a result of the pandemic made it much easier to arrange virtual interviews for episodes of “College Confrontational.”

Anthony Ramirez-Garcia, a sophomore in the Iovine and Young Academy, shared similar sentiments on how the pandemic gave him more flexibility to pursue his interests. Ramirez-Garcia also started a podcast, dubbed “Meditation with Anthony.” 

Ramirez-Garcia has long had an interest in meditation and spirituality, but the freedom he gained because of the pandemic finally gave him a way to share his passion.

“I think that isolation time kind of gave me some time just to think and just to be like well, I do meditation, I really like design, I like doing some of these other things, maybe I could try it,” Ramirez-Garcia said.

The podcast focuses on providing accessible meditation at a time when people seem to be more stressed than ever. Ramirez-Garcia spoke about misconceptions regarding meditation, “There’s also a lot of stereotypes about meditation like people think you’re sitting there for hours.”

Ramirez-Garica hopes his podcast will help listeners realize that “you can add in meditation and mindfulness to anything.” 

Both Thur De Koos and Ramirez-Garcia are in the process of writing more episodes, which will be released in the near future.

Since last March, the pandemic has fueled many students’ productivity in ways that few could have predicted.

“I finally had time to really think, and I just thought I’m going to just do this and go for it,” Thur De Koos said.