Rachel: Day 2 of online learning: My second day of online learning had a bit of a turbulent start. I had my alarm set for 7:00 am today and woke up right at 8:00 am right when my class was supposed to start. Luckily my teacher had a conference and I had just enough time to get dressed and grab a mug of coffee before rushing to my desk for my first video conference.
Online learning has its ups and downs so far. I have a sense of freedom and self motivation that will hopefully prepare me for college. It is not as detrimental as I thought it would be because I despise and do not do well with unexpected change. I have passed the initial shock and the schedule has become a lot less daunting. I forgot the fact that this is new to everyone, even the teachers. I think that empathy and responsibility are the most crucial skills to hone during this crisis. Though the days are long and boredom comes easily I am getting through it day by day. If only my dad would tell me the Netflix password.
Jess: Pressing through the school day is hard. I got really used to sleeping in last week and the start of this one. Want to know what else I got used to? Being sad. The big swim meet that I’d been looking forward to for months was cancelled less than five minutes before I arrived at the pool…after a five-hour trip. Wasn’t happy that
day. Or the next, when I came home expecting my sister from college and finding out she wouldn’t be home for another day. And these struggles with online class conferences are peeving me just a little. But I keep telling myself I’ll be fine. I know I’m so fortunate to have my family around me and friends that I can call/text/FaceTime with whenever I want. I just can’t wait to get back to “normal.” School in a building that isn’t my house. Swimming in a pool, not my bathtub. And maybe, just maybe, a secure world.
Naomi:
No more routine means creating my own. Pictured here is my 8am self laying on my bedroom floor preparing for the day ahead!
Uh oh… Canvas is calling, but don’t worry, I won’t leave you empty handed.
Check out my personal blog post from last Sunday:
http://www.effloresce-ing.com/2020/03/15/covid-angsthope/
Lily D: Day two of having online school has surely been interesting, when comparing the total of two days we have had overall, I would say they have ran pretty smoothly. I do really miss going to school and seeing all my friends. That’s what made Marian, Marian. The people built the community and without the community the concept of learning feels off. I am all for the idea
of being in comfy clothes and eating whenever I want in my class, but that pro doesn’t overweigh the con of seeing my classmates. On the bright side I am grateful it is something to do inside the world of quarantine and corona. I have been bored out of my mind during our long break. Zoom and Canvas Conference have been great substitutes for the classroom setting and I really enjoy how easy they are to use and operate. Overall I have had better times in my life, but the quarantine has not been horrible.
Quinn F: The past couple days have been something that I never thought I would have experienced in high school: sitting in front of a computer for eight hours a day while being virtually taught. At first I hated the idea of it and I thought my grades would go down or I wouldn’t be able to stay on track. But it has been the exact opposite of that (which hopefully won’t change considering this was written on the second day). I like being able to teach myself, do my assignments at my own pace once the teacher has
finished instructing, and the freedom to do what I want between classes. Though I have been more productive, I would much rather be back at school with none of the current cancelations in action. I have been really bummed the past few days because I had a lot of plans for summer that will be probably be canceled, like Iceland, Hawai’i, and multiple concerts.
Maddie G: One week into COVID self-isolation and I gotta say, my dogs are thrilled that the humans are home. This is truly a magical time for them. Not so much for the rest of the family, but as a pretty introverted person under normal circumstances, I’m in faring pretty well. I’m killing time before it kills me, y’know?
Our house has had a small crisis when we all started getting sick, but never fear! It’s just the world’s most ill-timed cold! Don’t run from me! I just have allergies!
My mother is appalled and my father is bored to death by how non-violent and cutesy my video game choices are, but we’re all bored enough that they watch anyway. Of course, not without their share of complaints.
Online classes are great not only because I get to see people’s pets on their webcams, but also because I only need to look presentable from the shoulders up, and no one need know that I’m calling into Algebra from the comfort of my bed with a couple of dachshunds crushing my legs. There’s nothing quite like puzzling through an equation with two furry boulders cutting off circulation to your legs.
Rylee G: In the spirit of being honest, I was originally hoping school would be cancelled. The prospect of returning to the constant stress of school after spring break was awful , and I saw COVID-19 as something that was getting exaggerated by the media; however, in the past two days, my perspective has changed completely.
Everyone’s panic was easy to ignore at first, but it hit close to my heart when I had a discussion with my mom about it. She shared her concern of needing to care for her parents should something happen to them, which opened up a new perspective to the virus for me. My brother, a senior at Creighton Prep, joined in as well, sharing his disappointment about the cancellation of activities he’d been looking forward to in his last few months of high school. Furthermore, I never could have anticipated how lonely I’d get without the constant social interaction that school provides. Video calls and text have become a much more prominent feature in my life.
In summary, I’m going crazy. Online school is weird and it requires so much more self control than I’m used to using. Being stuck in my house is causing me to find strange ways of entertaining myself. I’m not kidding when I say this: I taught myself to knit yesterday. That’s how bored I was. I really hope that this crisis can be managed and the curve flattened so we can go back to normal life soon.
Gaea: One of the most difficult parts of online school is the workload. As much as I appreciate the idea of online school, giving a set routine, and happiness in times like these, it’s very hard to adapt to the lifestyle when as a working teenager, I am being dragged into work. My mom is a nurse and my dad works in the grocery store, as well as myself, and both my younger siblings are in OPS schools, which can be hard to stay in control of my life. I’m feeling overwhelmed, the virus has not slowed down my world but made it more chaotic. I am beyond frustrated and exhausted with the way my life is going right now, and I don’t know what to do to give structure to it.
Molly M: When the new hit that there was a global pandemic called COVID-19, I thought to myself, probably no big deal and how could this possibly effect me as a high school student?
Now I have been on complete lock down for a week and I am about ready to jump out of my window to escape my house. Now, on more normal circumstances I am usually a little bit of a introvert at times and I enjoy a night of doing nothing and staying in. However, now that the opportunity of going out, eating out, or even seeing my friends in person has been taken away, I am restless and eager for just about anything exciting or fun to happen.
Lexxi O: Being stuck at home has definitely been a different experience. Before COVID-19 took over I spent almost every day with my friends or doing something outside my house, so you can only imagine what it’s like being cooped up inside all day. The one thing that has been the biggest challenge is being around my family all day everyday. It’s only been two weeks and we are already starting to get on each other’s nerves. After deep cleaning my room, doing way too much laundry, taking 5 family walks, etc. I have run out of things to do. I feel that I am just starting to repeat activities and they have already become boring. The only word to describe quarantine is boring. The online school thing is also a big change. I get to roll out of bed 2 minutes before class and stay in my sweats all day. Let’s just say it’s definitely different. After a couple more weeks like this I think I will officially be called crazy.
Olivia O: Throughout this epidemic I have been extremely bored and going out of my mind. During the week of spring break I was sick and did not leave my house and then with great sadness found out that we would not be returning to school. I have not left my house in two weeks and the only time I get to see my friends is through facetime. It also saddens me that I will not be attending any baseball games along with other spring sports. During the process of online learning I have come to find that it can be stressful and overwhelming but I know that others are in the same boat. On the upside I am fortunate enough to be able to continue my education through online learning, and still get to talk to my friends through technology. All I can do is try my best and look forward to returning to the classroom and “normal” life.
Sophia S: Life as a teenager is very busy. I spent my days going to school, then to tennis, I would then tackle the large amounts of homework I had, all while trying to maintain a social life. I would often complain that I was tired and that I needed a break from it all. Little did I know, I would regret that statement. A pandemic in our world called COVID-19, cancelled all of those activities in my life. I am now on Day 6 of self-quarantine, wishing I could see my friends, eat at Chipotle, and play tennis.
I have had a lot of time to think (trust me a lot) and I now realize how blessed I truly am. I am healthy and live in a house with heat, food, and access to the internet. Not everyone has the access to continue their academic career, therefore I am very thankful for this opportunity. I am also very grateful to go to a school with teachers who are positive, motivated, and always willing to help. My condolences go out to
the people impacted by this pandemic such as those that have become ill themselves or are caring for an ill family member, people who are experiencing a financial strain, and to anyone who had something very important to them cancelled. So many graduations, weddings, and vacations have to be re-evaluated. I have realized this is not the most ideal way to live, but I believe it is important to quarantine and respect what doctors say because they are trying their hardest to end this catastrophe so we can go back to what we call “ a normal life.”
Sophie S: On March 13th, 2020, Susie Sullivan sent an email out to all Marian students letting them know class would be cancelled for the week following spring break. When I received this email, it worried and made me realize that the COVID 19 was getting a lot worse in Nebraska. On my days leading up to the start of online school I hung out with friends at their house, and tried to stay as sane as possible. As school is getting started I have become very bored and go on a lot of walks. I thought I would enjoy not going to school, but I hate it. School gave me time to catch up with friends, and see the people I don’t get to see on the weekends. This is definitely not the junior I planned on, nor the field day I had wished for. As we go on these next couple of weeks hopefully online school becomes more adaptable and more fun.
Claire T: As a junior in high school, I am carrying a lot of stress. My main stresses right now are grades, tests, and taking the ACT for college. As the tables were completely turned around from COVID-19, I am nervous and excited to see what my future holds. I have completed 2 days of online schooling, where I continued to collaborate with my peers and teachers. I enjoyed being in the comfort of my own home, even if it is a little harder to get out of bed. My teachers have adapted very quickly and I am waiting on the edge to see how this year plans out. I have had more time to do homework, which helps a lot because it gives me time to contact teachers during our blocks to chat with them if I get stuck. My thoughts and prayers go out to those affected by COVID-19, but I hope that communities start coming together to help out and take safety precautions.
Courtney T: To put it bluntly, quarantine sucks. I’m used to going to school every day, going out on weekends, going to piano lessons, trap shooting practice, and the dog park. All of those things spread out over a week make for a fun, busy schedule. Now, I’m trapped in my house every day with nothing to do. I’ve spent a collective 3 days on TikTok in the last week, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. I can’t seem to find things that I enjoy that don’t involve leaving the house. On top of all that, I am ever so plagued with the sadness of missing my friends, having my trap season cancelled, and having to FaceTime my piano teacher once a week so she can tell me what I’m doing wrong with my pieces. I’m sure I’ll find something to fill my time, but until then, all I can do is sit here and wait for something to add a little excitement to the prison that is my house.
Olivia T: Boredom. That seven letter word that has defined my days for the past few weeks. With spring break being abruptly cut short because of cancelled college visits, limited contact with my friends, and no school to go to, I suddenly gained a lot more freetime. With all this newfound freetime, the dreaded sense of boredom worked its way into my life. I found myself just sitting around with no pending assignments that needed to be completed.
However, I didn’t let this boredom define my final days off. With my final days of nothingness, I restarted some earlier habits that were lost once junior year started. The most important one being I started to paint my closet again. Painting my closet was the
creative outlet I needed to escape reality for a moment in time. I had started painting it last summer, but the time I spent significantly decreased as the school year went on.
With this new theme of freetime, I hit the ground running again. I spent hours upon hours these past few days and I have enjoyed every moment of it. It allowed me to be in a safe space where there was an overarching theme of calmness. I stopped thinking about all the “what if” scenariors and began to reflect on the crazy world around us. As my freetime slowly gets taken away (darn you online school), I realized that boredom is not as bad as it seems.
Grace V: On a typical day, I would usually go to school or work. Though since almost everything has been shut down I’ve been forced to fill my days with other tasks. I have been cleaning my room and keeping everything organized, which is unusual for me because I’m a very messy person in general. One thing that I spent hours doing was making a new music playlist and finding new types of music that I can listen to in the future. I even tried something new and starte
d to create art and draw. Though, none of these activities satisfied my boredom. I spent most of my time watching new Netflix shows and movies. I’m a huge fan of movies and watching films, so I was happy that I got an opportunity to spend more time catching up on recent releases on Netflix. Other than the new online schooling process, my days have been quite boring and I have been trying to fill them with various activities to waste time.
Mrs K: Day 2 of online learning…Glad that my students are so positive and supportive. We had a faculty ZOOM meeting this morning, and it sounds like all teachers are finding ways of being both remote and interactive, and handling all their own household/family tasks with grace. It is a challenging time for everyone – but making the best of the situation is a gift we can give each other. These juniors in Journalism I are committed to be the eyes and ears for the community through these times. The Network seniors are still working on their coveted SENIOR EDITION of the paper and the Yearbook staffers meet this afternoon to see how we can finish the book for the rest of you! Stay tuned!
Marian Network Student Newspaper 