What it's like to be a student at Cornell University right now, according to a junior who's studying hotel administration and takes a coronavirus surveillance test twice a week

Courtesy of Montse Longoria

• In light of the coronavirus pandemic, college students are returning to class in a variety of ways this fall, including in-person, online, and hybrid coursework.
• Business Insider caught up with a junior at Cornell University who is trying out all three class types.
• Here's how Montse Longoria juggles two courses in person, two courses online, and one course with both in-person and online elements.

Montse Longoria spent the first two weeks of the fall semester in her bedroom.

The junior flew back to Cornell University in New York from Texas, so she was required to self-quarantine for two weeks before attending some of her classes in person.

But for the last two weeks, Longoria has been confused. She said finds the material more difficult to follow on Zoom than she does in person.

"I wish I was a perfect student who paid attention 24-7, but even in the classroom, it's difficult for me to pay attention for an entire hour and 15 minutes," she told Business Insider. "So on Zoom, without having teachers in front of you, it's difficult to sit there and be as if you were in a traditional classroom."

Now that her quarantine period is up, Longoria can attend some of her classes in person.

A hotel administration major, Longoria takes two courses in person — Business and Hospitality Law, and Managerial Accounting — and a culinary class in a hybrid format. On top of that, she takes a human resources course and a hospitality development course fully online.

Longoria had the option to attend her in-person and hybrid courses fully over Zoom, but she didn't want to because she feels like she didn't learn much last semester once she switched to online courses. Longoria added that part of the issue is just having trouble staying motivated.

"Last semester I would either be in bed or working out while I have a class in the background," she said. "But now, I told myself that I cannot do that again. I should be learning and I should be getting something out of what I tried so hard to get."

In a statement emailed to Business Insider, Lisa Nishii, Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education, acknowledged that audio has been a challenge in some classrooms.

"We know that faculty are trying different strategies, and we encourage students to be part of the solution by speaking up, offering ideas, etc," Nishii wrote. "This is new for everyone, and we have to continue to improve as we go. Close collaboration between IT experts and teaching/pedagogy experts has been necessary to get to this point, and to continuously improve."

Here's how the Cornell student is managing her time this semester.