Emily M., Centerville High School
Overcoming the Odds
I had always wished I could try homeschooling. In the blink of an eye, I got my wish, but it was nothing like I imagined.
When I heard that my school would be shut down for two weeks, I was thrilled. We received packets of work we would be doing over the weeks. I imagined doing school at home would be easy- I was wrong.
Remote learning meant it was my responsibility to get my work done on time. Learning was up to me. At first, the new normal was stressful. It was difficult not being in class. I couldn’t ask my teachers questions and I sat in front of a computer all day. I also got distracted easily. Though it was difficult, I had school expectations and had to adapt. I decided I would wake up early every day, sit down, and do my homework. This helped me focus and I found this helped me keep order and get my homework done in time. Soon, I adjusted to learning from home.
While in quarantine, I had to find things to do. I wasn’t in school the whole day anymore and I had a lot of time on my hands. My mom told me about how teachers were struggling to adapt to online learning. This gave me an idea. I got out paper and a pen and began writing letters to my teachers. I told them how thankful I was for all they did. I gave the letters to my mom and she sent them to the school. Over the next weeks, I received emails and letters about how thankful the teachers were for the letters.
We’ve all heard the saying, “When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade.” This saying relates to the Coronavirus Pandemic closing schools, leading to mandatory isolations and remote learning. I could’ve let the fact I was stressed about the situation get in the way of my learning, but I knew I had expectations. I chose to adapt and find good to do in the situation. Everyone was confused about the things happening around, so I chose to write letters to my teachers expressing how thankful I was for them. When my teachers received these letters, they were happy. I learned that when things change, you should do your best to adapt to them by finding ways to do good because doing good leads to being happy. Even though sometimes you get what you wish, you should be careful what you wish for.
