The shelter in place has allowed me to pursue many of the interests I never had the time for, like baking, gardening, drawing, and reading non-required books. Distance learning has been great so far. I enjoy having the extra freedom to make my own schedule for working on schoolwork. I still feel like I’m learning, and I don’t have to stress about tests or presentations or talking to people.
Students all over the Bay Area have transitioned into the shelter in place life and some have struggled more than others. So, I decided to interview a few of my friends from other Bay Area high schools:
“As a student who has already been taking online classes, the transition wasn’t hard or difficult or a struggle in any way. On a normal school day I leave during lunch and go home to do work. The shelter in place is just completely online which isn’t much of a difference to what I already do. My ASL class is actually pretty fun online. Turning in videos of myself signing about whatever was assigned isn’t difficult. Staying at home all day is fine too since I’m an introvert and dislike socializing.” Amanda Thach, junior, Castro Valley High School
“Because my school has a Zoom meeting for every class, the lessons are more or less the same as they would have been had we not been doing distance learning. My teachers still teach the same way they would have taught regularly. As such, for me personally, the shelter in place has little to no effect on my learning. On the contrary, my teachers actually assign less homework than usual, which makes distance learning easier than regular school in some respects.” Turner Yuen, senior, Valley Christian High School San Jose
“I don’t like the uncertainty of not knowing when I will go back to school. While I don’t like school that much being surrounded by all those people, I liked having a balance of people socialization and alone time at home. I wasn’t that close with my school acquaintances and friends but I miss seeing them around school. We’re in a time of sudden change, which I don’t like and a lot of things are changing and out of my control. I’ve been having difficulty forming a new schedule for myself in these unusual times, so far I’ve been lazy and unmotivated” Kaylee Yee, senior, Arroyo High School.
This reporter graduated in 2020.
Abigail Law is a senior at Washington High. She was born in Hayward but spent most of her life in Fremont. As a first-year reporter for The Hatchet, she tends to address serious topics in her articles, but she'll write about anything and everything. She enjoys swing dancing and everything high/dark fantasy. In the future, she hopes to study geriatric psychiatry and neurocognitive disorders.