With face-to-face lectures eradicated and end goals of studies unclear, it was questioned whether students would be able to maintain motivation to see them through the year. However, Gen Z – the generation frequently subject to mass misconception – surprised everyone and are indirectly becoming a more self-reliant and resilient generation because of it.
“With such an uncertain end-result, students are still finding the determination within them to continue giving their studies 100% commitment.”
It’s safe to say students aren’t always depicted in the best light, generally relying on teachers and lecturers to push them towards their end goal; motivating them to work and strive to reach their full potential. Without the irreplaceable in-person support, students are finding new ways to motivate themselves, equipping them with key life skills essential to the working environment they are yet to explore.
Self-motivation
If you were to describe the typical teenager, ‘self-disciplined’ and ‘resilient’ probably wouldn’t be the first adjectives that spring to mind. Remote-learning is really changing that image however, and for the better. Knowing you have to get up at 8 AM even though you’re going absolutely nowhere is demoralising in itself.
“They aren’t having to comply with the infamous ‘social-norm’ and are being able to express themselves without judgement.”
Yet still this generation of online learners are waking up and attending those video calls each and every day with the end goal of their studies, for the most part, being unclear. Goals which would normally include achieving grades in exams or writing controlled assessments have now been cancelled. With such an uncertain end-result, students are still finding the determination within them to continue giving their studies 100% commitment.
It’s also encouraging students to focus on the bigger picture: the biggest motivation of all is what path your education will lead to, whether that be a dream career or owning a business. And this is really driving motivation during lockdown whilst there is currently little to look forward to.
Appreciating your own company
“Online learning has also helped to eradicate peer pressure.”
Without seeing their peers daily, students have also become more comfortable with their own company, something they didn’t used to get a lot of with the hundreds of people they mixed with every day. Now, students aren’t having to comply with the infamous ‘social-norm’ but are instead able to express themselves without judgement. With social media being one of the only ways of communicating between young people, students are being exposed to a much wider and more open-minded outlook on life.
Online learning has also helped to eradicate peer pressure, allowing students the head-space to make decisions that affect only themselves and reflect on who they truly are. The amount of people you spend time with within school, college, or university is minute in comparison to the number of people you can connect with on social media. It’s so much easier to find people with similar interests and passions to you, encouraging people to truly be themselves thereby creating a more independent and in-tune generation.
Time to think
Like everyone, students have had a lot more time to think. Whilst it could be argued that this isn’t such a positive concept due to the potential for over-thinking and procrastination, it could also be said that it has allowed people to ‘find-themselves’ (whatever that truly means) and really invest time into what they love doing. Being a student myself, I have found the time to stop and think so useful, contemplating life decisions I wouldn’t have even thought about before lockdown.
“It’s important to recognise the positives of the situation.”
After attending webinars with some of the most well-respected people in their industry, some students have decided that the career they thought they wanted to pursue isn’t actually suited to them. Others, like myself, have attended them and it has only fueled our curiosity further. Either way, the end result is a positive one and it’s something that we wouldn’t have had the time for if it wasn’t for lockdown and studying from home.
Whilst the unprecedented times continue to prevail, students are only becoming more resilient and versatile by the day. Whilst every student is willing to return to classrooms surrounded by all of their closest friends, it’s important to recognise the positives of the situation and beam with pride at the independent and unconventional generation that online learning has created.
Mia Williams
Featured image courtesy of Windows on Unsplash. Image license can be found here. No changes were made to this image.