COML 505E Virtual Immersion

When I signed up for courses for fall 2020 semester at Gonzaga, I was looking forward to taking COML 599 Content Creation & Strategy with the on-campus immersion. Although we were a few months into a global pandemic, I was hopeful that I would be able to travel to Spokane, a five-hour drive from my home, and visit the Gonzaga campus for the first time. I was looking forward to meeting my classmates and professors in person and really be immersed into the experience. Unfortunately, the pandemic had other plans and the immersion was shifted to virtual. I was apprehensive about attending virtual class for two days in a row, ~10 hours each day. Although I attend virtual meetings for work all the time, I have not spent more than a few hours on a virtual platform and then adding in the fact we had to be on camera during class. I thought about changing my course schedule to move the immersion to another semester (in the late spring when the snow clears Spokane, of course) but I decided to roll with the changes and see how it goes. Once we got started, I did not even notice we were not on campus. The professors made everyone feel welcome and were excited to be spending the next two days guiding us through the speech and writing master classes. All my classmates were also very welcoming and made the experience very positive. Our weekend assignment was to create a 3-5-minute podcast about a unique aspect of Gonzaga. We were split into four teams and I found myself feeling apprehensive about a group project, especially one that is virtual only. Once my team met and decided on our topic, Myrtle Woldson and the performing arts center that bears her name, we each assigned ourselves sub-topics and started researching the details. It was refreshing to be involved in a group project where everyone brought effort and value to the table. Our podcast, named Zagopedia, turned out great (you can listen on my portfolio page) and I am so proud of our team for completing it in less than a full day. Although I am disappointed I still haven't been to the Gonzaga campus, I found the virtual immersion to be such a great experience. In the future, I may consider signing up for a course with an on-campus immersion (not during the pandemic) or hey, I could just visit when I complete the program and graduate with my master's.

Below is the class picture from our last day of the virtual immersion.