Student Reflections on the new year

This school year is quite a new experience for everybody. There is no guarantee that school life will ever be the same after this. Plenty of things from this pandemic world will influence what happens and the actions that are taken in the future. Not just in school, but I’m sure around the world. It may change the way people think about things and maybe people will be more careful about things keeping more distance. 

In schools, there may be no more drinking fountains. It was quite nasty anyways before the pandemic, if you ask me. Backpacks may be brought to every class and lockers may not be used as much in the future. Hygiene will be more noticed and sanitizer may be used quite frequently. Kids are still getting used to this whole new school life. It can be confusing and people may not know what to think about it.  So much has changed already and we barely dented the school year. There is no telling what may happen in the next month. We could be back to complete distance learning again by next week for all we know! This is a serious story to tell and there is so much depth into it. 

From a student’s perspective and mind, it is so strange. In ways I feel like I’m not even allowed to interact with people, even if they are 6 feet away and we both have masks on. For some reason it seems wrong. Others may have different opinions though. I can tell by some of the students in the hallways that they are just wearing masks so they are able to go to school and socialize with their friends. Some actually want to be in school I’m sure. I know that I do. It isn’t the same doing school work at home all day, and joining calls with my classmates. 

Being at home, I struggle – and I’m sure others do too – with focusing. Getting distracted all the time at home proves to be an issue during distance learning. Whether it’s a pet, a family member, or the freedom. By freedom, I mean the ability to not think twice about pulling out that phone and checking it, getting stuck onto that screen and then procrastinating about doing homework. While in school, you need to think twice about taking out that phone and if you do, you need a strategy to hide the phone before the teacher comes near you or before they notice. No one wants their phone taken away, but yet they still take it out when they think it’s clear. Not just with the phone either, it can be other things. 

Another common one, for me at least, is getting up and going to find snacks. Then plop myself in front of the T.V for an hour or two, and get distracted with something else… Then maybe going back to homework. Maybe. If it’s not 1 AM at the time that is.