Why I Miss In-Person Learning

Photo via Diply

Sometime in the early 2000s when I was in between jobs, I registered for a Media Bistro class on writing for women's magazines. Once a week I'd drive to Assembly station in Somerville, MA and hop onto the orange MBTA line, switch to the red line a few stops down, hop off at the Harvard stop, and walk a few blocks to a Harvard Square church where the class was held. 

Over the course of the next eight weeks, my fellow ten or so students and I got to know each other. All of us ladies came from different backgrounds with varying degrees of writing experience but we were all dedicated to the subject matter and soaking up as much knowledge as we could from our instructor Meg, who actually made a prolific living as a freelance writer for Family Circle, Ladies Home Journal, Women's Day, and other publications from that time aimed at the female demographic. 

Every week we'd learn about a content format common in magazines, from the personal essay to the interview. We'd have to write an article in this format and then take turns reading it aloud in class the following week. We also learned the art of the pitch letter. 

Looking back, it's amazing that I don't recall any of us aspiring writers skipping a class or dropping out. Our email addresses were shared, and I remember we kept in touch over the next few months and celebrated each other's wins as pitches to editors were accepted. 

Media Bistro used to offer in-person writing and media classes in major cities across the country but at some point, even before COVID, switched to online learning only. And that's pretty much the norm now for adult education in the post COVID world. It's getting harder to find classes that actually take place in person, and that makes me a little sad and nostalgic for the past. 

Don't get me wrong; online learning is incredibly convenient. Even more convenient are the take-at-your-own-pace online courses where you can learn as much as you want based around your schedule and personal time. And as someone working full-time and living alone, I definitely wouldn't be able to trudge into Boston to take an in-person class once a week these days. 

However, I miss the camaraderie and socializing with other students that just can't be possible with a live streaming class or Teams training. Online classes, while convenient, can also feel alienating. 

I'm also not alone in my opinion that in person learning, overall, is better for both the instructor and students: a Reddit thread on the subject proved that an overwhelming majority prefer in person learning for the ability to retain information better. Teachers say in person classes also allow them to read body language. 

We live in a world where a lot of people admit to not having a lot of friends or have difficulty forming new friendships. In person classes provide an opportunity to meet people with shared interests. 

Lately I've been keeping my eyes open for a continuing education class that I can take in person to pique my creative juices and meet some new people. Somewhere in my desk I still have the folder containing copies of my assignments and my fellow students' assignments from that writing course along with their email addresses. I suppose it would be too weird to reach out to these ladies some 20+ years later but if anything, looking back on these memories is motivating me to look a little harder for a class that I can take in person that works with my location and schedule.