Silver Linings: A Q and A with Career Instructional Faculty Member AnnMarie Manzulli

Career Instructional Faculty member and Program Chair for our Mass Communications program, AnnMarie Manzulli, shares how she has adjusted her approach to teaching while working remotely. 

What’s surprised you about working remotely?

What surprised me most about working remotely is how many, many more hours per day I spent gazing into a computer screen and the impact it has had on my eyes, my now Cyber-Eyes! I acquired a pair of geeky, blue light blocking glasses that seem to help a bit with the visual fatigue.

What is the biggest lesson you’ve learned from the spring semester and how has your idea of classroom learning shifted? 

Spring semester reinforced that the most meaningful and rewarding part of my job is the engaging connections I have made in the classroom with my students. In order to maintain those connections, I continued to invest a great deal of time checking-in with students personally to assure they were emotionally doing ok during different stages of the online transition. Student feedback confirmed that they too missed and needed the in-person lessons more than anticipated, which I think came as a surprise to many of them.

Do you see any of the changes in your life as a positive that you will carry forward when we rebound from COVID-19?

The most surprising and positive change I have discovered through this isolation is that I may actually be a closet introvert! I have always identified as an extreme extrovert, but honestly this time of social isolation has not been problematic for me, socially. I am comfortable social distancing and have enjoyed the spaciousness of having nowhere to go. I’ve appreciated simplifying my morning routine by skipping make-up and wardrobe time wasters. Rather, I spend the first part of my morning with coffee and writing in my journal before moving to my home office and getting on the computer. This low-tech morning ritual is worth preserving, because it helps me find balance, remain positive, and document life daily.