It's Only Getting Harder

By: Priscilla Rodriguez

This school year has been tough for each and every student in 2020.Transferring to all online classes is something very challenging for most of us. Are these online classes helpful? Are we actually learning something new every day we log into zoom? Is the amount of work we get assigned not emotionally draining for us?

Many students deal with problems at home, internet issues, lack of technology needed for online classes,and most importantly, lack of motivation.

17- year old Cristina Solis Reyes was excited to start her senior year since she had started high school. Due to COVID-19 restrictions,the class of 2021 lost the experience of their senior year and have to try to make the best out of it on distance learning.

At 8:20 AM every other day, Cristina Solis starts her day off by logging onto zoom. For the next 6 ½ hours, she has to stare at her laptop screen and sit down at a desk with barely any breaks other than a lunch period. “My daily routine consists of waking up, starting school, and after school is homework, usually for hours.” said Solis.

Having homework right after school is such a time consuming thing. Some teachers assign more work than they should and students barely have any time for themselves and their social life. For those who work, it is worse. ”When I have free time and no school I usually spend time with my dog.” said Solis.

Cristina Solis feels overwhelmed by all the work she has to get done and she finds it hard to try and keep up with her classes. ”Learning with an online school is very difficult, the due dates teachers give out are inconsiderate along with the amount of work.” said Solis.

It's not only her feeling overwhelmed by the amount of work that teachers give, there are millions of students who are mentally struggling and can agree with her statement and would much rather prefer going back to school than doing online. They've realized that the amount of work they get assigned is more than before.

”I definitely prefer going to school like it was before because it was easier to learn, there was also the time in class to do assignments, and I got to see my friends every day.” said Solis.

Furthermore, her senior year is coming out more stressful than she thought it would be. It is nothing how she imagined it in the past and is devastated by how things have to be. Her whole senior year got taken away. Senior sunrise, homecoming, prom, football games, cheer season, and possibly graduation all got taken from her and millions of other seniors in just a blink of an eye.

“ It personally makes me very sad that we will not get to experience our senior year like we should because we wait 12 years to experience it the way it should be but it won’t be possible.” stated Solis.

Unfortunately, things didn't turn out how she has been hoping for the past 12 years. She isn’t going to experience her senior year the way it should, and it’s much harder online than in actual in person school but she is making the best out of it and enjoying every bit of it. COVID-19 has canceled many exciting things for many people, but for Cristina, it is only a matter for her to keep going and enjoy her last year of high school.