A year of distance learning has been hard

Having a year of school on Zoom has taken its mental toll.

When we first got the letter that the campus was closing in March of 2020, I felt excited for two more weeks of spring break.  Everyone thought we were not going to have school for only two weeks, and that did not seem so bad.  So far, those two weeks have turned into a whole year of distance learning, anxiety, and overall sadness in the COVID-19 pandemic.  Looking back now, it has been a difficult year.

The spread of the COVID-19 pandemic has made all schools close.  Distance learning has been a challenge for everyone.  For most people, it has been a challenge to stay motivated and to participate in class. For school, everyone has to use an app called Zoom to be in class, and to do most of their work you have to go on Canvas or Google Classroom. This school year has been 100% virtual learning. 

Each day I’m waking up at 7:45 AM.  When school starts at 7:50, I just roll out of bed.  I don’t get ready at all, and all I do is just log into class.  Before distance learning, I used to wake up at 6:00 and get ready for the day.  Even though waking up early seems like a bad thing, I miss it because when I woke up early everyone was going to in-person school, and I was able to see my friends, teachers, etc. 

This school year has been a challenge for me.  I have little or no motivation to do any of my school work.  It is hard to do your best when distance learning.  I have been feeling unmotivated because I am not excited to do anything like how I used to be excited to do things.  

I wish we could have had less work and teachers would have explained the work a little more. This school year and assignments have really been affecting my mental health.  I feel way more mentally exhausted. Along with that, I have been feeling really emotional. I get sad over little things or angry at things I shouldn’t get angry about. I miss my friends, teachers, attending in-person classes. I miss in-person school in general.

This has just been a really tough time this year while distance learning.  Hopefully, we are able to return to in-person learning next year and do not have any further pandemics that put us through this challenging moment again.