A Year of Unknowns

School Days: Pandemic Edition

Funmi Omotosho. Photo: Funmi Omotosho

This year, school has presented me (and many other students) with a series of unknowns. When will I go back in person? Will school be harder online? How am I supposed to connect to my teachers and classmates over a Chromebook screen?

I chose the Online Academy option because I knew that the transition back to in-person school would be hard, and because I didn’t want to risk infecting my family at home. I also wanted to make sure that my junior year was as stress-free as possible. But once school started, I wasn’t sure if staying at home for the rest of the semester was the right choice.

I like working at my own pace and not having to worry too much about keeping up during class. The extra sleep and not having to worry about what I look like before I walk out the door are cool too. 

But some days, I have no motivation to pay attention to my classes. I’ll admit to sometimes turning the volume down on my Chromebook and listening to music instead. Being online makes it harder for me to reach out when I need help.

People ask me when I expect to go back to school in-person and, honestly, I have no idea. My wish for COVID-19 to fade away by September clearly hasn’t come true, and I don’t want to give myself false hope that the virus will be gone by the new year. 

When I start to regret my choice to stay at home, I remember the millions of Americans affected by COVID-19 and realize that I made the decision that will keep the people around me safer and less vulnerable. I remember all the teachers in our school (and across the nation) who are trying their best to encourage and keep their students on track. COVID is way bigger than me, than school, than all of us.

Funmi Omotosho is an 11th grader at Strath Haven High School. She is interning at the Swarthmorean this fall.