2020 has affected kids all over the world. Kids had to quarantine and spend months without seeing their friends. Kids had to attend Zoom for school and learn to adjust to this change. When the kids were able to change quickly they were able to have integrity and independence. I did not do this. When the pandemic hit, it changed me as a student.
When the pandemic hit, I became a disorganized and irresponsible student. I was more responsible in school than I was in Zoom. I was able to stay on track with my schoolwork. I did not have many distractions because I could not use my phone in school. I would be able to listen to the teacher without being distracted. When I was on Zoom I had many distractions. My phone and my pet were right next to me. I would get distracted by these things and would lose valuable lessons. In the classroom, there was a work environment. Everyone in my class was trying to finish their classwork. When I see the other kids finishing their work, it gives me a reason to work faster. My teachers also gave us time in class to work on big projects so we don’t wait until the last moment to do it. In Zoom I did not have this structure. I had to create my structure. I had to push myself to do my assignments. I had to make sure I was keeping track of my projects. Even when my teachers gave me time to work on projects, I would choose to get distracted. I also worked harder when I was in school. I had to turn in most of my assignments on paper so I would try to make my assignments neater. On Zoom I did not have to do this. I only had to take a picture of my assignment. I took advantage of this and wouldn’t worry about neatness. This became a bad habit and I started turning in work I could have spent more time on. I got better at public speaking. In school, I was able to practice speaking in front of a crowd. I would see all their reactions and learn how to accept them. In Zoom I could not do this. Presenting in front of a screen was not difficult because I did not see the reactions of my classmates. I liked this way better but I would never learn like this. When the pandemic hit I became distant from my friends. When I was in school, I had people around me all the time. I was able to talk to my friends more. They would either sit next to me in class or sit with me at recess. I could not do this on Zoom. We would all be on the same call so I could not talk to my friends privately. I was not comfortable talking to my friend when we were around other people. When I was at school I could check on my friend more. I was able to see their emotions and help and comfort them if they were feeling sad. I could not do this on text. Texting is not an effective way to communicate with your friends. I could not see how they were feeling so I could not comfort them. On text, they could tell me they are good, but behind the screen, they could be crying. I also grew distant from my friends. Most of the time we didn’t text each other. We would be caught in our lives and problems that we wouldn’t check in on each other. We did not know what was going on in the other person’s life. Our relationship became a lot worse.
During the pandemic and lockdown, I wasn’t able to focus on my health as much as I