As part of the many precautions against the coronavirus, Country Day students — like many others — were sent home on March 13.
I thought I would hate it. I consider myself an in-person learner and believed I would find it difficult to learn through online classes.
I really value group discussion, interactions with my teachers and the classroom. I was especially nervous about the transition considering my full load of classes.
Furthermore, my club soccer games were canceled along with training! I had waited the whole winter for everyone else’s high school season to be over, and then, after only a week of practice, it was done.
My mom and dad keep reminding me that everyone is in the same boat as I am. I did have the slight advantage of seeing my sister Sahej, ’18, sent home from Stanford University for the same reasons well before SCDS implemented online learning.
On the first Monday of remote learning, I received several emails from my teachers checking in and giving due dates and assignments.
Although it started off being a bit overwhelming with all the emails, once I wrote down due dates and assignments and planned them out, I realized it wasn’t so bad after all! I would go through everything I wrote down, decide what I wanted to do first and then make my way through. I tried to always stay a day ahead so I wasn’t feeling overwhelmed by a ton of work, and I took a lot more time for myself.
After a week of online classes, I realized that it wasn’t as bad as I had expected. It is still harder for me to learn in online classes, but I’m managing and developing better time-management skills. I have stuck to my schedule much better and had much more downtime.
With all of this downtime and being stuck at home, I am able to do a lot of things I normally can’t. I can make drawings or learn a new skill like photography. I have been playing more video games with my friends, which has helped us keep in touch, as well as keep our relationships going and keep bonding. On top of that, I’m reading more books, trying new genres and learning about things that interest me. It’s a nice break from the really busy days that I normally have when I’m not stuck at home.
Being stuck at home has also helped me develop some new hobbies. I have started baking and cooking with my mom, sister and dad. We make something new each day.
On top of this, both my parents are working so I’m even more efficient because they aren’t always asking me about school, homework and classes. I just sit down and do my work while they do theirs.
Plus, I get to spend a lot more time with my family each day, doing something fun like playing a board or card game, which was much harder when my parents and I were constantly on the go and my sister was away at college. Nowadays, we play some sort of game almost daily and sometimes watch TV shows and movies.
Overall, I’m sure there are going to be some ups and downs, but it’s really not as bad as I thought. I feel more productive than ever and hope we all continue to do our part in keeping ourselves and our community safe!
— By Arjin Claire
Originally published in the April 28 edition of the Octagon
