By Amy Mei, staff writer
It is always best to find the good in whatever circumstances you’re in. Although my experience with distance learning has been quite rocky, I’ve found some bright sides to it.
When distance learning first started last April, it was new and exciting which made me have a positive outlook towards it. I was keeping myself, my family, and others safe from the coronavirus all the while I was still getting my education. I had developed a morning routine and healthy habits that made me feel excited for every single day being at home. Every morning I would wake up at 8am, cook up some delicious breakfast, and attend my first three online classes. After class ended, I would do all of my homework, exercise, cook dinner and wind down. Doing this routine almost every single day brought me so much joy and my brain produced a lot of serotonin.
I also thought distance learning was relatively easy last year. I was content with how my school system worked and since it was almost the end of year, I just had my heart set on summer break. My teachers and classmates were all lost and just trying to push through for the last month of school. Focusing and putting all my effort into finishing my junior year kept me busy from stressing over the covid pandemic. I took for granted the workload being significantly smaller and easier to comprehend. However, the most memorable part of my experience with distance learning last year was that I found my attitude towards my teachers to be much more positive and I didn’t dread showing up to their zoom classes.
Despite my positive experience with distance learning at the end of my junior year, I, like the majority of my classmates, didn’t want to start my senior year of highschool through my laptop. We were only ever going to get one first day of senior year and knowing that it was going to be through a click of a button on an app really bummed me out.
Thus began a shift in my outlook on distance learning. My morning routine became non-existent. I’m the type of person that likes to plan things and organize my life so without structure to my day I’ve felt lost. I would set my alarms 30 minutes before class started in hopes of motivating myself to get up and at least get ready for school, but I would just end up snoozing and getting mad for pulling myself out of my sleep too early.
My attitude would be so negative that I would take it out on my family even though they were just trying to help me get my education. The actual school workload honestly felt pretty useless. My friends and I would all help each other and use other resources because we had the opportunity to. It was almost like a game of who would complete the work the fastest using the least amount of brain power.
And yet despite the drudgery of last semester I still believe things happen and inside I know that it is such a privilege to be able to complain about how you’re getting an education through an extremely uncertain time like this when many people all over the world aren’t as fortunate to be able to get an education let alone survive through a pandemic.
I do believe that I should always be grateful for every single thing in my life but, I also believe that my feelings are valid and having that balance is healthy. The entire fall semester was honestly a blur. I just remember being the most stressed I have ever been in my entire life and how forced it felt to join every single zoom class. It was assignments on top of assignments on top of assignments. The fact that I’ve made it this far into the school year surprises me because senioritis or that universal excuse that we all use is starting to affect me in every aspect of my student life. However, I am only halfway through the school year and there are many things I am looking forward to but the future is unpredictable so I am going to be holding onto a small piece of hope that life will return back to normal again.
