This pandemic is an unprecedented situation many of us have never experienced before. It's affecting everyone, and no one person copes in the same way. if we've never experienced this before, we should not be expected to perform just as normal, especially with the amount of stress in the world right now.  

 Texas students and teachers weren't trained or prepared for the switch to distance learning. Majority of us have some experience with online instruction, but it was never to the degree where we entirely relied on it. Teachers are humans, too, and many are still trying to figure out how to effectively relay information to students. The level of education that we're receiving currently is not comparable to actually being in school. 

 It is too difficult to ensure great learning for all and cheating is easy and rampant with online education. You never fully know or understand what's happening in a student's home life. Their parent's could've lost their jobs, they could be dealing with a sick relative, or they might not have the resources necessary for stable internet access, and this would negatively affect their overall performance and furthermore GPA. This semester should not factor into GPA, because we shouldn't be competing on who had a better experience or who found the best way to cheat the system. Switching to a pass-fail system would relieve stress for everyone involved and would create a more concrete goal for students. Well-known and respected colleges, like Harvard and the University of Texas at Austin, have already adopted this temporary system, so why can't we?