What I’ve Learned From a Year of Online Learning (and the Beginning of My School’s Hybrid Model)
Six hours of classes followed by endless hours of homework, all while staring at a screen. That’s been the reality for myself, my peers, and millions of other students across the country as we’ve spent more than a year under online learning.
In the beginning, I thought it’d be “fun”: I’d get to sleep in an extra hour, go to class in sweatpants and a hoodie, have shorter classes, and longer breaks in between.
This lifestyle would start at the middle of sophomore year, two months before AP exams, which was uncharted territory for myself, my classmates, and the AP teachers. I’m thankful that the AP World History was open-notes and only one DBQ essay.
Online learning would continue to the beginning of junior year, arguably the most stressful one for high school students. Add on two AP classes, SATs, and the search for colleges, and you have yourself a perfect mountain to climb.
I found that the beginning of my junior year wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. All of my teachers were very sympathetic towards our situation, acknowledging that even though we’re going through hardships, we’ll get through it together. The reinforced message of unity was really needed in these times.
In spite of the unfortunate circumstances, there were still some positives that came out of online learning.
New Opportunities in a New Normal
Distance learning provided my peers and I with an opportunity expanded to us: college visits. Even though they were virtual, I thoroughly enjoyed hearing about different schools, the programs they offer, and what their environment is like. It was definitely beneficial, especially since we weren’t able to visit out-of-state schools or have in-person meetings with their representatives.
There were several opportunities where I came on campus for events. The first was a retreat for the school newspaper’s executive staff. There, we formulated our goals and vision for the upcoming school year, and learned the ethics behind high school journalism (and journalism as a whole). I’ve also come to campus for my Broadcasting class, where our most recent project has been recording a podcast for the NPR Student Podcast Challenge. The third time I’ve been on campus was for the PSAT, and it was nice to interact with friends I hadn’t seen in over a year, even if we were masked and socially distanced.
I even stayed after school several times to help with the newspaper’s first print edition of 2021. We had several technical difficulties (our school laptops didn’t work the first day, and it was the first time most of us used Adobe Indesign) , but it all worked out as we produced a great (albeit not perfect) paper.
Extracurriculars
The new school year also opened up newer extracurricular opportunities for me. I joined the school’s newly-established Computer Science Club, the Filipino Club, and even a political club where I shared my thoughts on current events and listened to like-minded peers.
It also gave me more time to take on new coding projects, implementing Tailwind CSS and React. Even now, I spend part of my free time reading about the latest news in the Web Development world.
Hope on the Horizon
My feelings towards online learning had eventually shifted after the first semester, and I, like many of my classmates, began to feel burnt out and wanted to come back to school. Pretty soon, our wish was granted.
On March 11, we received the news that we’d be returning for in-person instruction on a hybrid model, with 20% capacity for one day per week. What made it even sweeter was that it would start on March 17, a full year since we began online learning. The student population was divided into five cohorts, and each one would be on campus for a day. If all went well, there would be two cohorts present and 40% of the student population on campus two weeks later. This pattern would continue until 80% of the population would show up to school for five days a week.
Reflection on Hybrid Learning
At the moment, I’m writing this portion of the article on campus. It feels a little odd being here for in-person instruction after a full year of learning through Zoom, but at the same time, it feels a little normal. Waking up at 6am, napping in the car, driving through downtown. All familiar sights that I’ve seen time and time again.
But this time, it feels different. I have to complete a health questionnaire, get my temperature scanned, and wear a mask throughout the day. Sure, it’s not the greatest thing in the world, but it’s better than staring at a screen.
All of my classes that day went very well and ran smoothly. I still had to log onto Zoom for most of them, so I could see the rest of my peers who were staying home. It was very refreshing seeing my teachers face-to-face, and great to see all of the students on campus, albeit six feet apart. Our principal was even walking around with a six-foot-long stick to enforce the social distancing.
Conclusion
The past year was difficult for all students, and I’m no exception. I had to have the same patience as everyone else when it came to waiting for in-person classes, and I’ll need to have the same amount of patience when it comes to a full return to normalcy. In the meantime, this year has taught me a lot about resilience and being grateful for every opportunity I have, and those are lessons that simply can’t be taught through Zoom.
