Student Finds Online Anything But Lonely

Posted on July 19, 2007 by Jennifer Brady

This is a rather dated, but nevertheless timeless, item written by an online student named Noha Kabaji. The online school isn’t identified, but that’s less important that this person’s experience online. Dreading the possible lack of socialization that a traditional college setting would offer, this student was reluctant to select the online option.

If you are the least bit worried about whether or not the online world can be a lonely place, I urge you to read Noha Kabaji’s story in full. Here’s just a little of it:

Almost twenty five years after receiving my first Master’s degree and teaching English courses at the college level, I moved to the United States and joined two community colleges as an English Department part time faculty. Immediately, I started to weigh my options for pursuing another Master’s degree… I thought I would be going to a university and meeting new people. I needed to know new people as I had been in the country only a short period… But the only program that met my interest was an online one. I was nervous about the probability of this lonely experience. I was worried about connecting to my instructors and to my classmates. I was anxious about how I would be received without my smile and without eye-to-eye contact, which establishes impression and rapport.

…in the first week I learned not only the names of all my fellow students, but something about their lives, their achievements, and their aspirations. That was very inspiring. Then there were the responses and the welcoming notes that students wrote to each other. I felt surrounded by real human beings. Soon after the course started, we did some collaborative assignments and I was amazed at the cooperation and support that I received from the members of my group. More and more I felt part of a community as the course progressed and I participated in and responded to discussions, peer reviews, Emails, and more collaborative projects. By the end of the course, almost everybody knew everybody.

[Art Credit: Lonely Walker by Melody Winning www.artkoukou.com]