When the pandemic hit during my junior year, I was basically doing review work for all of my AP classes, so it wasn’t like I had to learn new material throughout the beginning of Covid. Of course, with the state of the world being so grim, my motivation decreased sharply. It was very hard for me to get myself out of bed to study for the tests that I had been preparing for all year. It was also difficult for me to get many of my assignments in on time. Of course, my teachers were very understanding of the fact that we were living through an incredibly stressful time. But I just felt so guilty, because throughout the entire year, I had turned in basically everything in by the due date. And here I was now, missing deadlines left and right.
I feel like the summer break between junior year and my senior year provided me with some motivation. It also served as a breather, and I used the time to recharge and finally relax. It’s not like I could have gone out to hang out with my friends, so I mostly stayed at home and did research on some of the schools that I had interest in going to after I graduated high school.
When school was back in session, I found it hard to adjust to the new school schedule at first. I thought it was strange to be going to school only once a week, on Tuesdays for that matter. I found it very tough to learn the new material of my various classes because I couldn’t come in after school to ask about some of the subject matter. I think I had a hard time in the beginning because I was learning at home most days. My brain had associated being at school with learning and being at home with relaxing, so to attempt to learn in my bedroom was a difficult task.
(From The Boston Globe: https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/08/22/metro/state-criticized-over-calls-teachers-work-empty-classrooms-this-fall/)
On the days that I would have in-person schooling, I was always so shocked to see that the hallways were eerily quiet and virtually empty. I felt like I wasn’t supposed to be there, as there were so few people present. Walking into school at the beginning of this academic year was really depressing, because as soon as you entered the building, you’d be hit with this wave of melancholy. The aura of the building was just… sad, even when the teachers attempted to brighten the mood.
About a month or two into my senior year, I think I finally adjusted to all the changes, and I felt more motivated to do my classwork. Classes were still hard to comprehend over Zoom, but I just did my best given the circumstances.
As things began to loosen up around here, school has become more normal, I suppose. When we switched the hybrid model to two days in person instead of just one, I feel like it became easier to focus on schoolwork and actually learn the material being taught in class. The atmosphere became a lot brighter on campus. There’s something about the sound of classmates chatting with their friends during the passing periods that just puts my mind at ease. It just makes sense to me.
I’m pretty excited for when we go up to 4 days a week in person. It’d be great to see my teachers more than only once per week. I think that would help me to better understand the topics we explore in class. Things are finally looking up