Virtual school was very different than normal school. In the second semester of the 2020 school year, we had to start doing school online. For the rest of that year school was very easy. I woke up five minutes before class and then logged onto zoom, each class was only 30 minutes long. Tests and homework were also easier. Then, after summer, I started going to a new school. It was hard getting used to the new school online. One other thing I didn't like about online school was having to stare at a computer all day. Something I did like about online school was being able to sleep and take long breaks between classes. Overall, I thought online school was much easier but normal school is a lot more fun.

At the start of Covid-19, we had to do virtual learning for the rest of the last semester until now. Online learning was better in my opinion. I liked it better because we got to sleep in, and also we didn't need to get changed into uniforms. But I also liked it because we had more free time right after school ended right at 2:45, but now I only have free time at 3:30 because that is when we get home. I liked it because everything was online and we didn't have to write on a piece of paper and get our hand tired. But I also like seeing my friends in-person school. I like online leaning better than in-person school.

My experiences with virtually learning was good. First I would wake up at 7. Then I would take a shower and eat. After I ate, I would take my dog for a quick walk and come back home to start school. School wasn't that hard at home, or on zoom. One benefit of zoom school would be that once you done with class early you get extra time to relax. But at school you would still having to stay in class and do work. One obstacle of my remote learning was having to do engineering at home. The problem with that is that I didn't have some of the materials so I had to get created. But having to get creating taught me to improvise which kind of did help. So thats my experience with online learning.

Learning virtually seemed so amazing in the beginning, but once it was the only option, it was terrible. The beginning seemed like a nice break from going to school, but after a while I was ready to go back. Being on a computer for almost seven hours a day, five days a week was killing me. Our classes were 80 minutes long, and all we did was sit and stare blankly into a computer. We weren't able to see any friends, and overall it was super boring. Some good things about it was we were at our own houses, so i didn't get up until 7:45 a.m to be in class at 8:00 a.m. If you were on a trip or in a different place, you could still bring all your school stuff with you and not miss anything. Overall, I am glad to be back in school again for now.

Online school had its ups and downs but the worst thing was that I had to deal with lag and glitches in online school. By the time someone actually reads this you will probably have holograms and jetpacks, but don't forget the people who came before you because they shaped the world for you and let be in charge of it. I encourage you to make the world a better place before you pass on and who knows maybe we will meet one day and have a chat. Until then Godspeed.

Have you ever done online learning? Well there is good and bad things about it. During when COVID first hit we were transitioned to online learning, it was a little hectic at first trying to figure everything out, but it wasn't the same. As of now we have done about 9 months of online learning. Some bad things are not being able to communicate with teachers or friends, turning in assignments, and even the learning itself. The first semester I was at a public school and we couldn't do much of online learning so we had very few assignments. Then in the fall of 2020, I moved to a private school where it was much better, but there was still some flaws. Some good things about online learning are if you finish class early you can take breaks, I don't have a problem with this but a lot of people do, you don't have to wake up as early when you are virtual, and finally you can get started on chores around the house if you have free time or relax. Overall, I thought it would be worse, but it wasn't too bad.

I am a middle schooler. In the middle of march, online school started because of the pandemic. This was a very significant change compared to normal school. There were some pros and cons to having online. Some advantages were sleeping in. Even though it was only like an extra 30 min to an hour, it was still nice. Another advantage was more free time. All that time spent driving and moving to classes was non-existent. Now for the disadvantages. Many people agree with me that it sucked not seeing any friends. My human interaction was very, very limited. Other than my family and when I went outside toe exercise, I didn't see anyone. Also, wifi can be a serious issue. Any bad internet makes learning incredibly hard. I did still talk to my friends very often on things like discord but it is not the same as seeing them in person. My daily routine was go to school, exercise and play video games. My life did not consist of much more than that till summer. Eventually, I started having my sports practice again, but that was not till after summer, and it was still restricted in many ways.

While learning virtually, there were many good things and some difficult. I was able to wake up just before school started and open my computer. I sat in bed in my pajamas and eating pancakes. But there were always days that my computer didn't turn on or it wouldn't connect to the internet. Even teachers had technical difficulties. Over all it was an experience to remember.

My experience during virtual school has some positives and negatives. I liked the fact that I didn't have to wake up so early. During virtual, I just got out of bed and walked to my desk. I also liked how I could do school in my pajamas. I didn't like how I couldn't really see friends, and I got distracted easily.

My experience with virtual school was weird at first, but As I did it for longer, I eventually got into a pretty solid routine. I would wake up at 7:30 every day to get ready for school. I would go to school on zoom from 8:00 to 2:45. After that I would do my homework and sports practices. Then I would go to sleep and start the whole routine over again. The hardest part about virtual school for me was that it was hard to pay attention and stay focused throughout the whole class.

At the beginning of 8th grade year, we were all virtually doing school which was hard to focus. My room is filled with so many things and it was hard for me to pay attention to the teacher on my screen. My computer had many mental breakdowns from overuse. A benefit is that I got to stay at my house all day, but it was hard to stay focused and engaged. I did not like virtual learning because everything was on the computer rather than on actual paper. I would much rather be in class for learning and school work.

Remote learning was a blessing and a curse, when I first started doing online it was so easy and i could talk to my friends, eat during class, and overall have a better time. This was the best part about online, but the worst was that I never received proper instructions for things, so my grades weren't too good.

At the beginning of the pandemic, it seemed for a bit of time that the infrastructure of the world was on shakey ground. Thankfully, our food supplies and economy did not collapse. However, the experience and extra-time during the pandemic led to me trying to become more self-sufficient in my livelihood. I have had a vegetable garden for years, but I started to grow different things this year than before. The picture above was my sweet potato harvest experiment, which I was pleased with and had a good amount of nutritious sweet potatoes. I had similar results with things like beans and regular potatoes (very nutritious and filling). On top of these things, I also tried to learn how to make products that I used regularly (even if these were more luxury items than necessities). Growing various herbs and spices, I began to make my own salad dressings, marinades, sauces, and pestos. Additionally, as a fan of craft beer, I enjoy drinking new and exciting beers but do not enjoy paying premium prices. During the lock down, I learned how to brew my own delicious beer for less than half of the cost from the store. All of these projects were fun to do, diminished boredom, and are skills which I can use to enrich my life moving forward.

When the pandemic began, the company I work for sent us all to work from home. While I did some baking and cooking before, I took it upon myself to grow and learn more. Plus, in the office we usually had some sort of food available, and now I had to provide that for myself. I began looking up recipes to make at home that were fast and easy, yet really good. I stumbled on this recipe and now it is my go to recipe. The smell from them baking and after they come out of the oven is great, and they don't take too much time. The smell lingers in the house the rest of the day as well, and the I love the flavor of these muffins.

As so many people's lives have become overturned by Covid, and people had more time on their hands than ever before to become engrossed in a hobby or activity, I feel that it is both a blessing and a curse being in a Masters degree program. Obtaining an advanced degree certainly seems to be a wise use of my pandemic time, but I cannot help but feel slight jealousy sometimes when I have to work on assignments instead of some of the interesting things that people have been doing this past year. However, I do enjoy gardening, fishing, kayaking, playing with my dog, and cooking. All of these are the things that have kept me sane and happy during the pandemic. Especially during the spring and summer, I ensured to take time away from school and work for a bit everyday to do some of those things. I am very fortunate that I live on a river/lake, so I could work in my garden, then launch my kayak with my dog in the passenger seat, and go fish until it was time to cook dinner whenever I wanted. It was a total blessing for me during Covid, for as isolating as it was at times, I was very lucky to have space and the ability to do my favorite things on a daily basis.

My family normally meets at my parent's house for Christmas every year with my Dad's infamous filet minion dinner. However, I have not been there in-person for the past decade or so because I always work on Christmas. Unfortunately (or I suppose fortunately), paramedics are needed to staff ambulances on holidays. Though I did not work on Christmas this year, I was still unable to go to the family party due to Covid. The biggest difference this year for me was that for the first time, I was not the only family member who participated in the holiday party remotely. This is not to say that I was happy that my family could not get together like normal, but there was something oddly comforting to not being the only person on zoom/whats app/etc. during the holidays. Everyone prepared their own dinners at home, we jumped on zoom and did a family toast and showed each other our respective meals. We all logged off to eat and then jumped back on to continue to celebrate the holiday and do the annual secret Santa exchange. Overall, it was a more normal holiday for me than for the rest of my family, but it was overall a great Christmas.

School during COVID is okay because there is a lot of ups and downs. For example School is quite simple but I want to go on campus. Stay home gets kinda boring and thats one of the down falls.

Ever since March 13, 2020, till December of 2020, I had to do school online, from home. During this period of time, I had many new experiences. I have never done school at home before, and I never want to ever again. We used this app called zoom, and we had big face times with all of my classmates for our classes. All I had to do to go to school was roll out of bed and log on to my computer. Which is not as fun as it sounds. Doing all of my classes at home was really hard, I could not pay attention no matter how hard I tried. I always had my phone right next to me which was a big distraction, and my bed was 2 steps away. Although it was hard to pay attention and I didn't like doing school virtually, it was still fun. I had all the food at my house accessible to me, I got to nap at break, use my own bathroom, and face time my friends and stuff. So even though I hated do school at home, it was a fun and new experience that I will never forget.

Online school isn't that bad. I get to be in the comfort of my own home and away from probably sick kids. I feel better that way anyway. It's definitely easier too. I'm more focused at home surprisingly. I don't want to do it forever though. Maybe just for this year and then I can be a freshman. It's a good experience and others make it seem like it's the worst. It's kind of harder to learn but, that's only if you dont want to. When people tell me it's just as bad for me since its my last year of middle school, I definitely dont think so. I'm happy to leave and at least my last year of middle school is more interesting than others.

Online School has been rough it has its ups and many down. For Example its so hard to pay attention when you get a buzz on your phone and go to check it next thing you know your on it for 1 hour. The up side is that you dont hto get ready becadsue at my school you have to wear a uniform but in online you can wear whatever. Its also so much harder to learn because you can ask you teacher a question and have them show it to you. What makes it even harder for me is that im a visual learner. These are my reasons why i like and dislike online school

During virtual learning I learned a lot of different things. At first it was hard to pay attention, learn and just sit still for 80 minute classes on a computer. I was so used to shorter classes that would be done in a snap, but that changed quickly. I slowly started liking online school more and more. My schedule was usually waking up 5 minutes before class and setting up to learn. Then during break and lunch I could eat whatever I wanted and I got to go on my phone. I liked online because I have a lake house and we could go up there whenever we wanted. Now that we are back in person school I am definitely having an easier time learning but its hard waking up in the morning and sitting still for so so long. But I love seeing people and getting to socialize with people. Although sometimes I switch back to zoom for a day because school is very tiring and draining.

While learning online during COVID-19 there where many differences to normal school. I would wake up at sometime between 7:15 and 7:30 and I would go and eat and be at school online by 8:05 and everyone in class would be tired from waking up so early. One of the obstacles faced from learning on time where that it was hardy to pay attention and be really engaged with the class because there wasn't somebody right there making sure you are paying attention. One of the benefits of learning online was that we got more sleep and we had more time to do homework because you didn't have to drive home after school, it was easier to feel motivated to do homework at break because what else could you do, and the classes had longer periods so you had time to work on homework in class.

My experience learning virtually was ok. There were a lot of ups and downs. The hardest part was learning through zoom. Somedays I spent over 5 hours on zoom in one day. I was always tired and felt like doing nothing. I highlight of doing school at home was not having to get up early in the morning and I had more free time. I loved having more free time during the day. On a normal day, I would wake up and get ready for my first class. I would go through school and do my homework right after so I wouldn't have to do it later. After school, I would hang out with my family and enjoy the time i had with them because I couldn't do anything else like hang out with friends or sports.

It is great and it is bad in virtual school. In my opinion, I think it's good and bad because you get to have a lot more rest time and you can sleep in. On the other hand, I do miss the benefits of coming and interacting with my teachers and my friends. All and all, I cant wait till we go back to normal.

Learning online is much harder than usual, because it is much easier to not listen. Sure we are learning the same stuff as in school, but all the fun aspects of school disappear during online. That makes me have no motivation to learn. However I also like it because it gives me a bunch of free time to do art and stuff. Overall i like normal school more.

My annual holidays consist of Eid al-Fitr, Christmas, and New Years. This is what happened in 2020. I think it's important to be able to document experiences from different walks of life. I don't know how many people would celebrate the first two in the same family, but they've been a big part of my life since I was born.

I want to a Dallas Cowboys in October at AT&T Stadium were they were allowing in-person audiences with “limited capacity” and with masks. When I want to the stadium that has a capacity of over hundred thousand only twenty percent was allowed. As I sat in the stadium to watch the game, a roaring crowd took on a different meaning to audible sensory experiences. That is to say, because of the lack of fans crowd noises were piped in to emulate a hundred thousand people cheering. This was done to give fans a game feeling although we knew this noise was manufactured. Although this noise was piped in, yet it never felt like a real game. The COVID-19 pandemic and my trip to the Dallas game had many effects on my senses as it relates to “limited capacity.” One, it caused my audible senses to now have to distinguish real from manufactured. Second, it made me further appreciate sounds of cheering and the silence of disappointment. Lastly, it made me realize that although visual sensory and memory plays a major part in our life experiences, audible sensory is just as important to us especially because the pandemic circumstance causes disruption in our lives.

As the year 2020 ushered in my family and I had many events we were looking forward to, one event was my son’s high-school graduation. Once COVID hit his ceremony got postponed, and then it was turned into a drive-thru graduation ceremony. I felt happy my son’s graduation ceremony was still happening, but sad for both my son and me too. Since, my son would miss out on the traditional aspects of a high-school graduation ceremony, and I felt sad for myself because I did not get to attend my own high-school graduation; so it had meant a lot to me to see him experience what I did not get to at a traditional high-school graduation ceremony. On the day of my son’s drive-thru graduation ceremony, I was driving and my hands were dry and slippery from the hand sanitizer, I constantly put on for protection from COVID, both factors therefore made it hard to focus totally on the visuals of the event; and also impacted my ability to get a lot of video and pictures at the event. These circumstances I feel made me fixate on all the sounds and smells just as much as the visuals in front of me while experiencing the graduation. While waiting in the car line to get to the graduation stage the graduation speeches were streamed from a local radio station. The speeches I heard given by chosen student speakers referenced at times the sadness they felt due to the senior events cancelled due to COVID. When usually speakers at graduations express sadness, but the class of 2020 had a unique sadness and that is the effects COVID had on their senior year. As my son and I approached the commencement stage we both put our masks on, the smells of my car were replaced by the stale air I breathed within my mask that I had become all too familiar with since the start of COVID. My son got out of the car to walk across the commencement stage. The sounds I heard from the car were kind of distant, and made me feel like I was watching the ceremony from a different location. At the end of the day, while watching my son walk across the graduation stage, all my feelings and different observations before the event subsided and I felt nothing but proud of my son. Along with I felt grateful for the people who put together the graduation, for some of the unique sensory experiences I may not have focused on as much in pre-COVID times, and for the event since it could have been canceled because of COVID. If anything COVID implications provided many unique aspects to my son’s graduation ceremony that may come to give more meaning to it in the long run then a traditional graduation ceremony. The video clip I submitted is one of a few captured memories I have of the graduation; and it’s an example of the distant sounds of the graduation I heard while viewing it from my car.

I work in the library at a high school. It has been a surreal experience during the pandemic. While on spring break last year we learned that we were not coming back for two weeks, which became the remaining 9 weeks of the year in short order. At the end of the school year, we had to collect, and in some cases return, the items that students had from campus or had left on campus when we departed for spring break expecting to return on March 16, 2020. For a few weeks, we held drop-off zones for band instruments, sports uniforms, textbooks, and even cameras in the school parking lot. We distributed laptops to students who needed them for virtual learning. We asked seniors to drive through the student parking lot to pick up caps, gowns, and other graduation regalia, eventually diplomas, senior shirts, and if a favorite teacher was working that particular shift, to say final goodbyes. Drive-through graduations took place all across the state and the country in May, hoping that the rising senior class would have a different experience in 2021. We somehow are no closer to the end of the pandemic, and there is little chance that my school will return to in-person learning before spring break, and that is how it should be. I cannot say what graduation will or won’t look like at this point. Cases in Arizona are exploding, and in the days surrounding my posting of this story, we lead the entire world in positive cases. In some ways, it doesn’t feel like we have even reached the halfway point. But actually… I have. Because yesterday I was vaccinated with the first dose of the COVD-19 vaccine. My library team and I stalked the website all weekend, waiting for when 1B groups could sign up. I found an open time on Wednesday, January 13, 10 months after March 13, 2020, the day we now say the world fell apart. On top of working, I am a Ph.D. student in history at ASU. So after the first class meeting of my Wednesday class, I drove from Ahwatukee to Chandler-Gilbert Community College and participated in my own parking lot drive-through pandemic procedure. Almost like I was ordering a hamburger in a drive-through. Or maybe I am the hamburger in this analogy? We filed in lines, then split into multiple lanes, guided by a combination of medical staff and National Guard. The first nurse I spoke to, who asked to see my appointment number and my ID, asked me if I had any medication allergies. I responded that I get raised hives from Amoxicillin and Bactrim. She tied a strip of yellow caution tape around my driver's side mirror and told me that I would have to stay 30 minutes after my injection, rather than 15, to make sure I didn’t have an adverse reaction and then proceed to lane 5. No one was paying attention to my car, and I was far from the only one with this yellow strip, but for the few hundred feet that I drove toward where Lane 5 split into an A and B, I felt marked, and then I got to thinking about what other things warranted the Caution tape. I think that it harkened back to my biggest fear about COVID, that if I became infected, I would be seen as irresponsible, a pariah. It’s a privileged outlook, to be sure, but I had done my best to be safe for almost a year, hence why I was in line for the vaccine on the third day that it was open to 1B individuals. The next medical staff told me to lower all four windows in my car. You might think for airflow, but a coworker told me it was so that the EMTs could get in your vehicle if you were having a nasty reaction. The doctor for the 5A line asked me again about my allergies and decided to remove the tape that he did not see any fear for an adverse reaction. I pulled up under the tents, put my car in park, and the nurse opened the door. She confirmed with me that it was my first dose and rubbed a single-use alcohol prep pad on my arm. She asked if I was ready while she did that thing that doctors do, the thing where they squeeze a bit of your arm where they are going to stick you. “Yep,” I said back, chipper, unafraid of needles, vaccines, shots, or anything like that. “Okay,” she said, less than a second later, “you’re all done.” I didn’t even feel the needle before she was putting a bandage on my arm and putting my t-shirt sleeve back down. We exchanged “thank you” and “have a great day,” and I pulled up to the end of the line where an EMT gave me a packet of information on the vaccine and a card that had no patient name yet but was stamped with today’s date, indicating that I had completed my first of two vaccines. That I was halfway done. I really have to wait 30 days after the second dose to truly be “done,” but “third-way” done doesn’t quite have the same ring to it. I pulled off to the side on the meandering path back through the campus parking lot and took a photo with my half-completed card. Because by social media rules, if you don’t take a selfie with your card, were you really vaccinated? Thinking back to my coworkers’ puppies that had gotten their vaccinations to make them safe around other dogs over the summer, I sent the photo to our group chat, “halfway to street legal!”

In almost every aspect of life, COVID-19 has put the world on mute. From canceled weddings and downsized gatherings to remote workspaces and quiet homes left behind by those we have lost, the overwhelming soundtrack of the pandemic is silence. When K-12 students in the United States transitioned to distance learning nearly 10 months ago, elementary, middle, and high school campuses were abandoned, leaving bells silenced and hallways quiet. From March to November, this silence came to define my work at Princeton Joint Unified School District in the rural town of Princeton, California. No longer did bells ring to mark the end of one period and the beginning of another, lockers no longer slammed shut as students rushed to gather their belongings, and students could no longer be heard gossiping, laughing, and playing during morning break. While this silence initially felt like summer vacation had merely arrived a few months early, the lack of auditory stimulation began to diminish morale and decrease productivity as work felt further removed from the students themselves, transforming human beings into pieces of data and names on a paper. I could often go an entire eight-hour shift without speaking to another person, frequently finding my voice raspy when I would pick up the phone for the first time in hours. Even among coworkers, passing conversations vanished and became simple one-line emails dealing only with the business at hand. As Zoom calls replaced in-person staff meetings and participants remained on mute, the noisy world in which I once worked fell even further away. When in-person learning became optional in November, the sound slowly began to return, but it had changed from what it once was. Growing accustomed to the silence over the long summer, I often found myself jolted in surprise at each unexpected bell or sound of students on the playground. The number of students has drastically lowered since we first closed in March, as many opt to remain home to avoid possible exposure, while lunchtimes are now staggered, and breaks are shortened to prevent spread, creating ominously quiet and often uncomfortable atmospheres. The unease and discomfort heard in students' softened voices displays that widespread uncertainty that has permeated every corner of society. It is my greatest hope that schools will return to "normal" for the 2021-2022 school year and that the sounds of carefree students once more fill the hallways and classrooms of Princeton Joint Unified School District. Silence has become an all-too-painful reality of the COVID-19 pandemic, and I look forward to the day that bells ring on their regular schedule, coworkers are free to converse with one another, and every student returns to campus. In images and articles documenting the pandemic, the overwhelming auditory silence that many of us are experiencing is often lost and forgotten.

Corornials. Pandemikids. Just a few hours old and they already bear a generational hashtag. Having a baby is stressful, but having a baby during a pandemic and delivering that child in a COVID-infested hospital when your state is at critical ICU levels does nothing to ease new parents' stress levels. My tiny grandperson was born under these circumstances and my daughter spent almost the entirety of her pregnancy in a pandemically-constricted world. She went to all her OB appointments alone (no husbands allowed), could never socialize with her friends unless they were outside and 8 feet apart, and, of course, a virtual baby shower. A week before her baby was due she was told she could not have her doula with her at the hospital. This was the person she trusted the most and had worked with for months, so a decision was made to deliver at home with a midwife. That seemed slightly safer than a COVID-filled hospital anyway. But after 30 hours of labor, that plan was abandoned. A 25-minute drive to a hospital that would allow her doula to stay with her ended with a C-section several hours later, followed by a too- early discharge 2 days later. These new mothers (and fathers) have had an experience that deserves memorializing. And city dwellers bear an ever greater burden. Is it safe to push the stroller in downtown LA or New York? There can be no childcare until vaccines have been distributed. The cohort of heroic coronial parents are going to have unbelievable tales to bore THEIR children with—the Herculean hoops they jumped through—when the miasma of the virus finally goes poof. And what of the pandemikids? Will this unite them as are millennials and baby boomers? It will be an interesting project for a sociologist in a few decades. But right now, ignorance is bliss and most adults would be happy to have the memory of this year erased forever. Too bad I am not a coronial.

During the quarantine, my wife and I were having a hard time trying to adjust to our jobs being remote. We were not used to staring at computer screens for 8+ hours. The feeling of stress was overwhelming. I’m sure everyone in the world can relate to this experience. We really needed something to raise our spirits after time passed by and the world was still shut down. When my wife and I first got married in 2019, we had a problem of spending money on board games of all kinds. We ended up with a collection of 47 board games by the time COVID started (we began our marriage with about 12 board games). The thing is, with our jobs (my wife being a Public Library Administrator and I being a teacher and coach), we hardly had time to play some except a few. Who would have thought that we were unknowingly preparing for a quarantine. Our collection helped us escape reality for a bit each time we played. Game nights became a regular occurrence and we still hold them to this day. We were able to connect more as a couple and strengthen our relationship. The sounds of dice being rolled, cards being shuffled, and game pieces being moved remind me how board games helped us cope with the unexpected changes in our lives and recharge our batteries to keep going forward.

Since 1988, my annual pass has made Disneyland my second home. Growing up within walking distance of the park, randomly deciding to Disneyland to hang out was a normal part of our day. Bored after school? Want to go out to dinner? Want somewhere to walk around? Popping into Disneyland was the answer. It's not just that I spent nearly every 4th of July, Christmas Eve, New Year's Eve, birthdays, and whatever other holiday there is there, spur of the moment visits for us are like a non Californian deciding to go to Starbucks. Shoot, when my grandparents took me to the park to play as a kid, they meant going to Tom Sawyer's island - to us "the park" is synonymous with what most people call "Disneyland." Married with my own family now, swinging into the park on the regular is still our normal. Before the pandemic, we were at Disneyland a minimum of once a week, even if it was just to go on a couple of rides and grab a bite to eat. Today. for the past two hours, my phone has been buzzing like crazy with people messaging me about the news. As one friend said "it's like our safe space has disappeared." Disneyland has always represented a safe space, a respite from stress and pain and reality. The pandemic truly wasn't real to me until March 12, when Disneyland announced it was temporarily closing its gates by the weekend. We rushed to the park, and, as you can see in my Instagram post, I naively thought we'd be back by April. Reality hadn't set in. Still, through these 10+ months of being home, knowing that we would eventually be back at Disneyland was a beacon of hope. Acknowledging that life after COVID is going to change in ways we didn't consider is setting in now. I realize for someone who didn't grow up in the shadow of the castle, this all probably seems strange. But losing daily access to the place you have been the most for the past 33 years is a sobering moment.

My virtual learning experiences wee pretty diverse. First, I needed to go on Zoom every morning on the weeks at home. Second, I needed to finish my work at home. Third, do the same thing again every week. I think that I have learned a lot of things in school while Zooming with my partners and teachers to go through different learning topics in my house. One of the obstacles in virtual learning are when you have hear something different that the teacher had said because of audio issues, technological issues and more.

I think that people created Covid in a lab. With all of the modern day technology, I think that it would be not hard task to create a virus. Weather or not they meant for the virus to rapidly spread throughout the world, I don't know. I think hat Covid was originally meant to only affect one area but it spread really far and became a world wide pandemic. This is how I believe Covid was created.

Virtual learning hasn't been too hard but one of the major things that are a problem for me is speaking up in class. Since we are not in actual school I have not felt the need to participate as much. That is a bad thing because some of my teachers may feel like I am not paying attention even when I am. Another thing about virtual learning is that I haven’t talked to any of my classmates. The only time I talk to my classmates is when we are put in a breakout room on zoom together. One of the good things about being on virtual learning is that my grades have gone up because I have been less distracted by my classmates.

Social distancing has brought many changes to my life but none as great as school online. At first, when we went online for school we didn't think that it wouldn't last very long and we hadn't planned that far ahead. At first, learning online was great we could get up five minutes before class started, so we got to sleep longer, also if we finished all our assignments for a class we could leave early. Also during break, we were at home so we could do what we wanted during that time. However, after a while it began to get old, not seeing friends being at home the entire time, and just a day after day of the same thing, it began to get old. Although online learning had both its benefits and negatives it was necessary to slow the spread of covid and minimize the risk.

The computer represents us virtually learning. Virtual learning was definitely a challenge, not being able for the teacher to observe our work was a free gap for us not to do it. I think a lot of students thought that. I think it would be better if all my classes were like Spanish. In Spanish we had to stay off mute and engage the whole time, the only thing I didn't like about this was staying the whole 1hr 20min. The benefits was I didnt have to wake up at 7:00 every morning at be drove to school. Also being able to automatically be home after school was also a upside.

While I was learning at home I had a very simple routine. I would first wake, wash my face, and then brush my teeth. Then get dressed. If I could I would have stayed in my pajamas all day, but my mom told me that I had to get dressed for the day. I worked at a desk that was right next to my bed. I basically stayed in my room all day and did work. In between classes, I would work on assignments that I had not submitted yet. If I was not working I was either on my phone or drawing while listening to music. During lunch, I tried to go outside as much I possible but I was usually too busy to do so.

Virtual school was not all bad. I got to wake up an hour later and participate in school in my pajamas. However, the numerous hours spent in my room, staring at a screen quickly became dissipating. Work piled up and motivation was scarce. I did get used to it after about six months but it still was not pleasant. I procrastinated to the extreme, I did not pay attention in class, I spent more time in my bed than ever. I did not realize how much I missed school in person until I came back.

My experiences while learning virtually had some good things and some bad things. Some of the good things were I didn't have to get dressed and could show up in a sweatshirt and sweatpants. Another thing is It was easier to do homework and get it done because we had plenty of time during class. Some of the negatives were that Wi-Fi sometimes wouldn't work or my assignments wouldn't be submitted. Some other things would be getting a hold of teachers and getting help outside of class was really hard aswell. Those are my experiences while learning virtually.

During the COVID 19 Pandemic, we were not around to go to school. So we had to do online school over zoom. Online school had some pros and cons. So pros are getting to sleep in, getting to eat in class, and wearing pajamas in class. Some cons are you don't get to see your friends, you aren't able to meet new friends, you can't ask question very easily over zoom, you aren't able to see everyones face very easily and many more. I think that Oaks did an amazing job on Virtual Online Learning. We actually had attendance, we had on person days on Wednesday, we didn't have to wear a uniform, and many more. Overall, Oaks did an amazing job with Virtual Learning and it was a very cool experience too have.

Over the course of online learning I would usually get up go to class and wait for a break. I would get up at about 7:45 and then get dressed in a cozy sweatshirt and some fuzzy sweatpants or shorts depending on how hot it was. Then I would look at my schedule and go to my class. After my class I would eat and then continue classes until the end of the day. I think the most challenging part of online learning was probably just making sure I had everything and that I wasn't missing a class or that my Wi-Fi was working. I think the best part of online school was getting to stay in my pjs. Over covid we decided to go to Nashville, it was so awesome. I barley had to wear a mask, and no one was really crazy about it. I loved it we got to eat out without a problem. I even got to go shopping. I got a rust colored sweater, some brown leathery boots, and a cute black bandana with orange, yellow, and green flowers. Over all I think the best part of covid (and by far the funniest) was when me and my dad went out to Malibu. We went to a shopping center and we were the only one without masks walking outside. This old woman was walking as well and when she saw us she called us creepy and moved to side like she was scared. I mean I get it but still how are we creepy for not wearing masks. Over all though, quarantine hasn't been that bad.

During the crazy year of 2020, we weren't allowed to have school in person. Instead, we had to learn remotely. There was both benifits and obstacles in this time. Some of the benifits were that we didn't have to wake up early, or go to different periods, because everything was one click away. Although there were some benifits, there were also difficulties. Some of them included no socializing, technology could sometimes fail, and we didn't have the same tools that we had in the classroom. Overall, this year has been a great change, and I think that we haver to start getting used to a different life.

My experience with virtual learning wasn't so terrible but still not good, i couldn't leave the house making it so i couldn't talk to my friends, plus, its on computer which is greatly distracting. During quarantine, i was in the house so long that my eyes hurt when stepping outside. But other than that it was ok, its not like we were starved or sensory deprived.

School was one of the many things that came as a halt during COVID-19. At first, we all thought that COVID-19 would be a nice 2 week vacation. I thought that it would be an escape. However after hundreds of days on zooms, things began to be too boring. 8I would wake up at 7:59 sharp. Exactly one minute before class. Without brushing my har or washing my face I quickly opened my laptop which was on my brand new white desk that I added to my room in order to do zooms. Often times my wifi would go out and in and my family would yell as we glitched out of our period. Then I had a break and I would eat a breakfast of a microwavable frozen Costco sandwich. Then I would go to period 2 and begin my next zoom, then another. Then it was lunch and I would be starving during the long day of staring blankly at a computer screen. Finally I had period 4. Although often difficult, online school did have its' benefits. It was nice to be able to do school from the comfort of my own desk (sometimes bed), sleep in later, and eat during class. But it was very difficult to focus.

I absolutely loathed virtual learning. I would wake up minutes before class started to get up from my bed, slap some clothes on last minute, and listen to class half asleep. I didn't really learn anything at all. The information would stay with me one day, then leave the next day. Learning Math and Chinese were excruciatingly terrible. I couldn't pay attention at all, and all of a sudden the teacher would ask a question and I would sit there not knowing the answer. While online school was the worst possible thing that school has done to me, there were a few pros to it. I could sleep in between classes, eat during class, watch tv during class. I could leave early, I didn't have to try as much. I liked online school when it was first announced in March until around May. Summer happened and we went back to online learning. I would have so many distractions that I couldn't get any homework done... The homework. The homework was one of the worst things about it if not the worst. They would give us mass amounts of work and then have the nerve to say "Have a nice weekend!", knowing good and well that I'd be doing work the whole time. It probably wasn't as much as I thought it was, but it sure seemed like a lot. The only thing I learned from online school was "Turn in assignments by 11:59 pm". So overall, the online school was terrible, nothing good came from it.

Well, my school decided to teach virtually. I was quite saddened by this news. I was hoping we would be over with this virus, but apparently not. My routine is basically wake up in the morning, take care of my dog, eat breakfast, and go to school on my computer. I enjoy sleeping in a little more and not having to get ready for school, but there are lots of challenges along with virtual learning. I had a very difficult time learning online and it was difficult to do projects at home. I did not have all the supplies so I could not do some projects. Some classes were strenuous and I was exhausted at the end of the day. Also, some other benefits of online learning is not wearing a uniform and not waking up early for school. Overall, I enjoyed some things about virtual learning, but I also struggled with some parts too. I would rather want to go to school so I can make new friends, learn much more, and get to know my teachers.

Online school, it was terrible. It is the worst way to do school. It may sound good, you don’t have to wake up, sleep in, and chill. But with that comes a price. You were not engaged in class and you felt numb to homework or getting bad grades. It was so boring and miserable that I didn’t care what was assigned, what my grades where, or about the final. It was so bad and I think it was a tool to cancel our opinions and voice. Cancel culture is what this whole COVID thing is.

When I first heard about virtual learning, I thought that it would be great. I would be able to do whatever I wanted during break and in between classes. I could sleep in. The only downside was that I wouldn't see my friends. However, when online school actually started, I quickly discovered that I was seeing my friends more often because school ended earlier. Online school was great. The only obstacle was that sometimes my wifi wouldn't work well. When this happened, I was forced to go down stairs to the dining room, where the router was located. It never affected my grades, and was annoying if anything. Then I learned that we would be going back to school, and I was greatly disappointed. I was even more disappointed when I discovered that school would be completely different. We would have plexiglass in between our desks, and we couldn't even get around the school the usual way. Only certain entrances and exits would be open for use. In years to come, when I'm looking back on my life during COVID, I will have something to be grateful for: Virtual learning.