The past couple of months have been harsh due to the novel coronavirus spreading globally, which is no secret to anyone. Lives have been put on pause due to quarantine, and for us students, that means online school.
Online school was a foreign concept to me, so I had no idea what to expect. I have been going to school daily since I was five years old. I am a visual learner and need the presence of a teacher to help me learn better. My main worry is my grades: how can I keep my grades up when I don’t understand what I’m learning? But I know the teachers are doing the best they can to help us, and I know we’re all in this together.
In the beginning, I had the idea that not having school would be filled with adventures with friends and relaxing moments. School closing was nerve-wracking, but I didn’t realize how severe it was until the virus was just outside of Grosse Pointe. My “vacation” from school has been anything but relaxing. Being cooped up in my home has been anything but a vacation.
With school not starting back up until April, this means online schooling for all. Never in my 18 years of life did I think I’d say this, but I want to go back to school so desperately. Doing school from home, from some teachers, consists of busy work just so we have work that we can be doing. I haven’t seen friends in over a week, and I took that for granted. Walking by someone in the halls and being able to say hello is something I didn’t realize I’d miss. At first, I thought online school would be a breeze but it has become very stressful for me.
Yes, I am a second semester senior already committed to college, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to try any less. I have due dates for a million things and zero motivation to work at home. Online school is definitely nowhere near the privilege of being able to go to a great academic high school like South. I can honestly say I miss waking up at 7 a.m., I miss the lunches spent at my friend’s house, I miss the paper homework I can have out in front of me to touch.
Online school to me feels like something I just need to get done. I don’t really have a purpose in doing it besides getting a completion grade. I don’t feel like I have learned as much as I could have in a classroom interacting with other students and with a teacher face to face. This is a learning experience for us all, and everyone is simply taking it day by day just to get through this pandemic. What I have taken from online schooling is that I will never take school for granted again. I hope to end my senior year walking across the graduation stage in front of my family and friends, not behind a screen.