Essay Example on Impact of COVID-19 on Students in Biology and Vulnerable Populations: A Comprehensive Analysis

Introduction

Work in the field of cell molecular in this era of COVID-19 is in continuous flux. Besides, the flux is not only in cell molecular but also in all other areas of biology as new restrictions are being imposed daily. My life as a molecular cell student changed drastically, and I am now trying to cope with the new normal. Today, I feel it very difficult to proceed with my academic work compared to how I felt a few months ago. With partial or total lockdown in most parts of the world, activities in the field of biology, and specifically cell molecular, have significantly been and rapidly hampered by the health crisis caused by COVID-19. Today, I feel stuck as a biology student because I can carry on my lab experiments and research due to restrictions. I am always distracted when attending online lectures because there are so many distractors at home. The frightening feeling that I have as a young and upcoming cell molecular scientist has led to significant worries about my career. Therefore, the COVID-19 health crisis has led to many challenges for students in the field of biology, more so cell molecular, due to the inability to carry out experiments, research, and the uncertain fate of my career in the future.

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Important Information from the Sources

I understand there are many anxiety and unknowns in the guidelines given to professors in the universities about online classes during this era of COVID-19. The directives are unclear on how professors and students should interact during lab work. In the molecular cell field, we as the students, the staff, and other faculty members have been left scrambling to social distancing measures. In most cases, we have gone without performing any experiments. In such a time when we are mostly encouraged to stay at home, students in cell molecular where lab work relies on staff-student interactions, we are left in a dilemma. This transition to online and distance learning modes is not equal among students from different fields (McCormick, 2020). Students from the fields of history and literature might have an easy time adapting to online learning compared to me in the molecular cell field.

The sudden closure of universities across the country to curb the spread of COVID-19 made many students relocate to their rural areas, and others adopted a wide variety of living situations. These situations pose a significant challenge to molecular cell learning because this field requires a lot of concentration, coordination, and teamwork. Moreover, many of my colleges entered a resource-limited and stressful environment that is not conducive to learning. According to research by Penn State, students with specific characteristics are disproportionally impacted by COVID-19 (McCormick, 2020). Some of my low socioeconomic status colleges may have limited access to high-speed internet, limited housing options, and maybe pressured to work while at home. Female students may also have a tremendous domestic workload, including caring for the elderly and children while at home (McCormick, 2020). These responsibilities will have irreversible adverse effects on the performance of these students in the molecular cell field and their career future.

I have observed that the shift to online learning has affected students, lecturers, and seminars in biology. Although libraries have worked extra hard to put in place online study support, I have also seen some libraries that have put extra safety measures for physical borrowers intending to support students during these hard times. However, online learning has also affected examinations, although I understand that most universities are working hard to develop an alternative to onsite exams. In my area of study, which is full of practical activities and many complex concepts that require a lot of support, introducing a fair method that will ensure that all students are assessed without a detrimental effect on our performance is a challenge.

As a cell molecular major, I believe that going to school is the best public policy tool that can be used to develop skills. While the time spent in school can be fun, it also develops social awareness and social skills. More so, I believe that physically attending school increases my ability to think and solve societal problems. Any time of missed school, no matter how short it is, will have detrimental consequences in the learner's skill development (Burgess & Hans, 2020). Although I have learned a lot from my online classes in cell molecular, I have lost a lot in research, experimentation, and data analysis. The most unfortunate thing is that we cannot precisely estimate how long COVID-19 interruptions will affect our learning. As a measure to curb the spread of COVID-19, if the impact is extrapolated into numbers, those in the field of cell molecular lose 6% standard deviation if we lose only 3 hours per week (Burgess & Hans, 2020). While home-schooling is taken positively in most parts of the world, it has undoubtedly brought some fun moments, inspirational moments, and angry and frustrating moments. It is doubtful that this form of learning will replace the education lost from school by the cell molecular students. The critical difference is the time available to devote to learning, resources available, and the amount of knowledge transferred to learners through online platforms.

Besides, the closure of schools has affected our learning as students of biology. The shutdown has also coincided with the critical assessment time, where many exams were postponed. The loss of vital information regarding or progress in the course delays the recognition of our potential and learning difficulties (McCormick, 2020). These delays will surely have harmful consequences in our expertise in the future. My life and career progress as a molecular cell student and other students add junior researchers. They depend on fieldwork to learn and develop essential skills, and to collect data that would help us begin our research is now blocked. Therefore, I believe that COVID-19 is creating a complicated problem in cell molecular and biological know-how, where vital skill acquisition is hampered. The problem is likely to lead to the production of half-baked professionals in the field of cell molecular, lacking essential research and experimentation skills.

Further, I expect the government to map the complex landscape challenges faced by many students in the molecular cell field in accessing learning resources. The mapping will help our instructors to help all of us better and improve online and distance learning to maintain the whole cohort of students in the academic track (Burgess & Hans, 2020). However, it is a fallacy to believe that online learning can be useful by merely posting lecture notes on the teaching-learning platform or even posting video records for the students to follow on their own. The field of Cell molecular demands more than just posting such materials on the teaching platforms. Instructor learner interactions must accompany quality online teaching in the field of cell molecular. The instructor and the learners must be oriented to online learning pedagogy, not forgetting that the materials must also be pedagogically designed (Burgess & Hans, 2020). This organization will help bring harmony in online learning, which I believe is chaotic in most institutions and fields.

The Elderly

Life and Death

Covid-19 has affected many people's health and resulted in many deaths across the world. Additionally, the deaths have been seen across different races, ages, and corners of the globe (Kraemer et al., 2020). However, a larger percentage of casualties are older people. Statistics show that nearly 90% of the deaths reported are in the elderly population (Kraemer et al., 2020). Additionally, the severity of this pandemic has been linked to some conditions like diabetes, which in most cases, are present in the elderly population (Kraemer et al., 2020). Moreover, this category of people has had difficulty accessing proper medical health care since most of them live in rural areas where the facilities are not well developed (Douglas et al., 2020). Also, the information concerning this disease is so sophisticated. The elderly may not be in a position to digest; hence most of them seek medical attention when their condition has deteriorated (Kraemer et al., 2020). Further, the situation has led many older adults to die because of the disease and has replicated in most parts of the world.

Social Distancing

The World Health Organization directive of social distancing has left many older people lonely and devastated (Douglas et al., 2020). Most of the family members have moved away from their loved ones, which exposes this generation to a state of loneliness, which has further led to the worsening of their health (Douglas et al., 2020). Additionally, some of these people do not have the physical strength to carry out duties that require agility, and by them being left alone, they are greatly affected (Douglas et al., 2020). In the developed world, some of these older people are kept in homes where they are being taken care of, and due to the pandemic, some of the caregivers have moved out and left the elderly vulnerable in these homes.

Economic wellbeing

Older adults mostly depend on their children, relatives, and well-wishers to provide for their needs, from food, clothing, security, and so on (Kraemer et al., 2020). Because of the disease, all these people who normally provide the aid, have also experienced reduced income and are barely able to take care of themselves (Douglas et al., 2020). Further, this has complicated the situation, and fewer resources are trickling down to the elderly population (Kraemer et al., 2020). The reduced income has complicated life for this group of people and their wellbeing compromised. In some instances, various governments have come up with ways to assist and cushion them for the time (Douglas et al., 2020).

The Rich

Anxiety

The rich people are always awash with ideas and resources that they would want to implement, like in business and other activities (Kraemer et al., 2020). Engaging in these activities require a particular environment and ease of movements while implementing such projects. However, the pandemic has brought a lot of uncertainties leaving the rich more confused (Kraemer et al., 2020). Also, most rich people do participate in traveling for holidays to relax after rigorous engagements in the year. The reality of restrictions in movements and closer of most hotels all over the world is slowly sinking in, thus bringing a lot of anxiety (Kraemer et al., 2020). Another thing that poses a lot of stress due to rich people is the inability to seek better medical health care in other countries with an excellent health facility. Since this category of people can comfortably afford better health care that may not be available in their respective countries, it is a sad reality for them that they are confined to whatever is available. It brings anxiety to them (Kraemer et al., 2020).

Overdependence

The reduced economic activity experienced in most parts of the world has rendered many people jobless. In most cases and this is rampant in the developing countries, the rich are bestowed with a lot of responsibilities coming from their family members (Kraemer et al., 2020). Additionally, this has overstretched the income that they get leaving them more vulnerable if the pandemic stays for a more extended period. Due to the reduced income, rich people are not able to adequately attend to their needs; hence there has been a change in lifestyle.