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Virtual and hybrid learning were a lot different than coming to school for face to face instruction, but this is how it affected the students.

I found myself somewhat excited to do virtual because I could stay at my house and not have to look a certain way to go to school, since I was at my house and in an area I was very comfortable with. It’s my personal space. However, after virtual started, I found it hard for me to stay on task because of my phone and having the urge to get on it to text everyone back or even watch tiktoks in the middle of my class. As virtual went on I had days where I went, “I’m so tired, I don’t even want to join this call.” Sometimes I didn’t because I was so exhausted. I would still do my work, but I just did not want to join the call and answer all of the questions  or even pay attention to what the teacher was saying because I didn’t care.

On other days  I didn’t want to do school because I had no motivation to do so because of my mental health, so all I did was join my calls and push my work aside to that night because I wanted time to myself, to relax my brain from all of its thoughts. I had days where I was completely pumped to do school work and log into all of my classes and finish my work in that class and use that time wisely so I didn’t have to worry about having homework. However, I had more days over all where I was completely unmotivated and didn’t want to even bother with school so I could just bother with myself. Once hybrid started, I started to get a lot better with staying on task on the days I was at school, but when I was at home, I wanted to take those days as a mental health day to regain myself after what happened either from the weekend or the week, from all the school and the mini-stress I had on me, or even just give myself time to breathe with a break of some sort. 

Other staffers for the B-A BluePrint reacted to this phenomenon. 

RORIE WOLF

My experience with online school has definitely taken a toll on me, mentally it’s alright but it caused a lot of stress due to the lack of understanding and loss of misconceptions that have come from where the teachers are talking. There’s a lot of confusion and with going back and forth to school it’s definitely testing my ability to be able to keep up and stay organized. Physically I’ve become lazier and lost a lot of ambition and motivation. I’ve lost my routine for school and are constantly sitting now, while in school you get to get up and move around sometimes. At home school is at your fingertips. For my emotional status I get really stressed and can’t focus as well because of a lot of distractions. It takes a lot to motivate myself, so being online and going hybrid has taken a toll on my life in a negative way. 

KAIA CLAYPOOLE

Going virtual affected my mental health by adding so much more stress on my shoulders. It made me feel pressured to have the work done whenever the team’s meeting call was over even though everyone was going super fast. It affected me physically because it was so different not being able to see my friends everyday and not being able to be in the same classes as some of them especially since they went virtual because of COVID. It just made everything not as interesting, especially since this is my last year in high school to make more memories before I go off to college. Virtual affected me socially because I don’t get to talk in the classes or even be acquaintances with the students in my class. It’s difficult since I don’t know how to start a conversation and I don’t want to make it awkward.

KAMI O’SHELL

Everyone’s social health has had a major hamper as well. You’re home calling into every class, no where near anyone else. Not only is that lonely for some people, but it’s also damaging for some people since quarantine has developed social anxiety from isolation, wearing masks, and the overall sense of the pandemic. I believe virtual has had a major impact on plenty of students and the teachers’ health, in all aspects as well. Virtual has definitely had an effect on me mentally, physically, and socially. I feel like a lot of students can relate to that. The constant video calls for 7 hours minus your lunch break were a little draining. When you’re home and in that environment it can be hard to motivate yourself to log onto your classes. Personally I struggled with keeping up with the work posted as well because of a lack of motivation. It can be very successful if you fall behind on work but thankfully most teachers give a leeway when it comes to that. Physically it’s just hard if you fall into a routine of you sitting all day and not taking any breaks. I was able to stay active and get out of the house, the only downside was migraines from being on screens all day.