If you were to tell me at the beginning of the year that a pandemic was to occur due to disease, I would probably not believe you. Yet, aside from all the early rumors of school closing, it finally happened. This year has been very different. There was nothing usual about staying home on a weekday. It made me feel like I was behind since I was not in the actual learning environment.

This quarantine has taught me a lot. It has taught me responsibility and to avoid procrastination as much as possible. This new skill was the most difficult to learn. I would often find myself behind on school work and falling behind on the latest concepts. My sleep schedules were inconsistent and off the charts. I would often fall asleep during the AMs and try to wake up super early to catch the upcoming conference calls. It was difficult and I wish I was prepared. But I’m glad I learned a sense of direction that gave me a driven mentality.

I sort of approached this stay-home learning quarantine the same way I approached school. I expected the information to be handed to me. This was my first mistake. Although it was not competitive, It felt that the students who were proactive and took initiative benefitted greatly. Although I slacked off in the beginning, I took this enthused mentality and motivated myself to be a better student. In the end, I’m glad I took the time to put in the effort because it made me feel active rather than being lazy.

There were many things that made it difficult for students during distance learning. I found it difficult to complete work from teachers that assigned work and expecting us to learn it ourselves. They did not take action to make students feel comfortable during this situation. Many teachers treated this distance learning as if it was a classroom environment. Their techniques did not change. However, for the teachers that spent the time to create multiple video lessons and taking initiative for students, that was greatly appreciated. I learned a lot from classes where the teacher was almost present every day through conference calls, emails regarding work, and video lessons.