Everyone has a strong opinion on online classes.

Some may cringe at the words, and some may be overjoyed with the idea of taking an online course.

I have been grateful for the online classes I have taken.

There are obvious pros and cons to online classes, but in my experience the pros vastly outweigh the cons.

As a Fashion Merchandising major with the intent of visiting the Fashion Institution of Technology for my senior year of college, online classes came in handy.

Summer classes were the only option to complete my required credits.

Living in Ohio, online summer classes through Mercyhurst were my savior.

I managed to knock out a REACH requirement and a minor course in six weeks.

That’s right, just six weeks!

The ease of a short class still allowed for a long and eventful summer.

Of course, with a short class there was a larger workload that came along with it.

One to two page papers were due weekly.

Short quizzes were assigned with each chapter.

Lastly, a recorded presentation was needed for my minor class.

Although the work sounds like a lot, it helped the classes fly by.

There was never a chance for the stress of a normal semester long class to build up.

Once complete, school was erased from my brain.

With all the raving I have done, it is important to reflect on the challenges of online classes.

There is no face-to-face interaction with online classes.

This lack of contact may make the content harder to retain, especially if a person’s strongest form of learning requires that kind of contact.

In addition to no face-to-face interaction, it is challenging to find motivation.

I recently took an ethics course online for REACH and struggled to stay focused on the content.

When in class, discussions and classmate exchanges keep a student fixated on the information at hand.

Online courses do not allow students to make connections with fellow classmates.

Despite the unique challenges of online courses, I highly recommend taking them.

They are often offered as mini classes, which leads to a lighter workload.

An online course allows a student to work at their pace.

The REACH courses I took online were topics I do not typically excel at.

Although there were deadlines, I still had the freedom to complete assignments when my full focus could be placed on the information.

I cannot speak for everyone when it comes to online courses.

Some have horror stories, while others have success stories.

However, in the end, I believe online courses can be quite beneficial.