A Student’s Determination To Achieve Despite the Pandemic
Facing challenges along the way this year causes a student to fight harder
The Covid-19 pandemic has affected many people worldwide, including one rising high school junior Margie-Ree Simmonds, who takes pride in everything she does.
Since early September, Simmonds has been attending virtual school at Lawrence High School in Lawrence Township but is not performing as well as she usually does in school, which works better for her.
Having loads of school work, procrastinating to get work done and feeling like she is not doing her best have all made her feel burnt out.
“I have always strived [with school work] … so when there was too much work, my brain couldn’t handle it,” says Simmonds.
Despite this hardship, Simmonds was able to end her sophomore year with a 3.6 GPA but wishes she was in school to maintain the 4.0 GPA that she had her freshman year.
“In the end, I always pull through and I always get the good grades that I want,” says Simmonds, who says she faces high expectations from her parents.
Since spending most of her time at home, Simmonds has been improving her painting skills by painting on canvases and on a section of a wall in her room during her free time or when she needs a break. In addition to painting, she practices her boxing skills with her father. By inputting these small self-care breaks into her busy schedule, it helps her feel calm rather than feeling overworked.
By being driven with her school work and accomplishing goals, Simmonds believes she has a chance to succeed in her future career in journalism.
With some experience in making stories, photography and video production classes, she believes that this can help her work in the future.
Additionally, Simmonds attended a summer journalism workshop this June at Montclair State, after being recommended by her guidance counselor. She learned about the different fields in journalism and has gained more knowledge than before.
“I learned that you can’t do one job [in journalism] … you have to learn to adapt,” says Simmonds.
Simmonds has learned about all of the careers she’s potentially interested in like communications, TV production, and radio production, which she is interested in.
Although Simmonds is not quite sure what she will major in college, she believes that it is somewhere in the journalism field.
With the motivation and confidence that Simmonds has from accomplishing her goals in life, she feels sure she will be able to succeed in the journalism world.
