Park students settle into the new semester

Bryce Butler, Reporter|January 26, 2022

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Bryce Butler

Students at Park have had a variety of academic obstacles to face since the start of the new semester.

If there is one thing that has become universally known in the past two years, it is that adversity has left no exceptions. This includes the academic point of view amongst Park students.

Jasmine Banks, a junior criminal justice major, says that Spanish II has been her hardest class this semester so far. This is mainly due to the speaking aspect of the class.

“The biggest obstacle I’m facing right now is scheduling all my classes and making sure I’m getting my work turned in,” said Banks. Time management always has been and continues to be a major stumbling block for students of all levels.

Banks finds it helpful that the university continues to be there for her mentally as a support system. The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has made a significant impact on the mental health of the youth, almost two years in.

Banks in front of vision board
Banks’ YouTube channel titled, “Jizzy Jasss” was launched in December of 2021.

This is all the more reason why it is important for students to stay in communication with one another. “I’m probably not the only one who’s struggling you know, it’s always you know, somebody else struggling too,” Banks said.

Banks is also not the only student who lists time management as an area of improvement.

For Michael Moore, a freshman multimedia communications major, managing his time was not always easy: “I’m working on my time management because that was a big issue last year. Now, going into this semester, it’s not that much of a problem,” said Moore.

Moore’s focus has shifted more to the financial component of his education. He deems it most helpful that the university bundles the cost of books into the tuition, to avoid coming out of pocket for materials.

As for what he can do to improve, Moore has a hopeful perspective on the academic school year: “There’s always a storm before the sunshine, so just keep going, and eventually things just gon’ get better on its own,” Moore said.