From Normal School to VHS Full Time

Who would have thought that students would be going online full time this year? Students were sent home from the COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak and now have to learn to switch from a classroom environment to a computer at home.

Many students have said that transitioning has been hard to do from being so used to the classroom environment. Students have also said they have a hard time finding the motivation to do school work at home like they do at school.

Senior Maggie Parker explained that doing school work while also trying to find a college to go to makes things a bit harder but is trying to work her way around them.

“My main method of managing my work has been to write a daily to-do list of assignments,” Maggie explains. “I quickly realized at the beginning of this quarantine that a set hourly schedule just made me feel even more trapped, so having flexibility in my days has been key to me finishing tasks and keeping sane.”

Many students have been making a plan for themselves to not feel so overloaded. Sophomore Aria Yuengling has done that as well but still feels like transitioning is a bit hard.

“I’ve found I’m more likely to be productive when others are around me,” Aria explains. “This is very difficult because everyone else in my house is also doing work and they need their space.”

One way teachers are staying connected to students is with the Zoom video chat. Many students have found this said to be very helpful with understanding school work and seeing classmates again.

“I personally really enjoy the Zoom chats. It really brings back the feeling of school with all my classmates' voices and thoughts,” Aria says.

“The Zoom video chats I find not only helpful in terms of class work, but also in terms of seeing other people. It’s so easy to feel isolated when only seeing family, so just seeing other people’s faces and (hearing their) voices is really nice,” Maggie says.

Connecting students has been the most beneficial thing the school has done for students, helping students get in a better headspace. Even though this whole event is hard for a lot of people, everyone is trying their hardest to keep their heads up to not go crazy. Schools might be online this year, but that doesn’t mean this is the end of personal connections