Taking College Classes Online & Trying to Make Friends

 The worst part of taking online classes

Studying Alone

I've been attending Rasmussen University since January of 2021. While most of my coursework and instructors have been great, I do have 1 complaint. I never got the opportunity to go to a campus, so making friends is hard. In many of my classes, no one introduces themselves to the class. Now, you are supposed to and there is a particular "chat" room within each course to introduce yourself. Nobody does it? Why is that?

Is it because we are nationwide and many students will never meet their classmates? Or is it that kids these days are so socially disconnected that they don't even know how to introduce themselves to a group?

I get that online classes are different than being in a classroom on campus, but how do you expect to make friends in your field of study if you don't talk to people? Why are people depriving themselves of making friends throughout their classes?

Now, I have never failed to introduce myself to the class. Not once. I always drop a post on the student collaboration page and I have only once, that's right ONCE in 8 months, gotten a response from a classmate about working on a project together. 

I don't know if this is contained to just the IT classes that I am in or not, but it seems like most of the other majors don't have such a problem. The nursing program has people talking to each other all the time. Not in IT. I have made a whopping 1 friend in the last 8 months. And he moved off to a different university to complete his master's degree. 

All of my instructors have said that connecting with classmates, instructors, and people in this field is the way to get the best opportunities....but HOW? How is that supposed to work when NO-ONE will reciprocate the desire to connect? This is the worst part for me so far about taking online schooling. There's no real connection with people. 

I'm not asking people to be my best friend, talk to me every day, or all that jazz, but I would like to connect with at least 1 person in my classes that is going into the same field. I am pretty picky about who I call a friend, but I like to have a lot of professional acquaintances and network connections. Online classes have not done me any favors in this area.

Now, I'm not one to just quit. I can do my classwork by myself. I am on the dean's list and I am due to complete my current program in September. I am just disgusted and disappointed in all of my classmates. I had high hopes for making some "college friends". I have given up on that hope & replaced it with hope in my own career path. I can do this all on my own & I will make new "friends" along the way as I gain experience in my career. 

Head Problems: Tinnitus and Phantosmia

    I quite often hear and smell things that aren't actually there. Do I think that I'm odd or broken? Yes. Absolutely. While I have battled with Tinnitus for over 2 decades, I didn't know that there was a connection between tinnitus, double hearing, and phantosmia. Turns out, some of the same things that can cause tinnitus (like head trauma) can also cause phantosmia. 

    Phantosmia, also called olfactory hallucination, is a condition that makes you detect smells that aren't really there. These smells can vary from person to person and can be nice or nasty. One or both nostrils may be affected and these phantom smells may seem to always be there or they may come and go. 

    Most recently, I've been suffering from random phantosmia throughout my day. And it is not a pleasant smell. No, I work in a diesel engine shop, there's always something that smells burnt, but this is worse. I have been smelling (or thinking that I smell) dog poo. That's right, I've been checking my shoes for the source of the smell every-singe-time. It wasn't until I was doing some research on the cause and effects of certain decibels on tinnitus did I run across the term phantosmia. Even I had to look it up (references from my search are at the bottom).

    Thankfully, the majority of my condition is bearable. The tinnitus does bother me sometimes, especially at night or when in a building with a lot of mechanical sounds, like electronics and appliances. The simple and nearly silent computer hard drive cooling fan can bother me more than a running diesel engine. I manage though. Sometimes a shake of my head or jiggling my ear can help reduce the irritation.

I am an odd duck, that's for sure!

https://www.healthyhearing.com/report/51055-Understanding-diplacusis 

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/temporal-lobe-seizure/expert-answers/phantosmia/faq-20058131