It all started March 13, 2020. I was sitting in Language Arts, and we had to project a video from our school. It was near the end of the period, and I was getting ready to leave. We pretty much knew what this was going to be about. It was no surprise to us.

“We will be going into an E-learning form of school for this week and then going back into school after spring break,” said our Assistant Principal as everyone in our classes and all the classes through the halls starting cheering in joy.

Little did we know that would be the last time we would be in school. 

We went through the rest of our day, our teachers telling us what we will be doing during E-learning, meeting with our Homeroom teachers before school ended. We all went home, one of the happiest days of our lives, had little to no work to do, go and hangout with your friends and be free.

Little did we know that this would go on for the rest of our school year. As our year progressed, we had a lot of busy work. Teachers were not prepared [for] E-Learning. As we finished E-Learning, it was a breeze for most of us, no zoom calls for our attendance, just forms. 

The summer was the best part.

We were all worry free, doing everything we wanted with our friends,  hang out with our family. Although a lot of things were closed, we found our ways to improvise. A lot of us guys resorted to Xbox, Facetiming our close friends. Eventually, we all got fed up with the restrictions, parents included, and started hanging out with each other. I mainly hang out with two friends who are very close to me, and we created many adventures and memories together. 

High school started, and I was nervous. A whole new school I had to learn, meeting teachers through a Zoom call and not in person, not being able to have the social contact with friends in a school setting, and grades dropping.

E-Learning affected me dramatically. My grades dropped, I wasn’t understanding things in my classes. I am taking an AP class and 2 honors classes which didn’t help. I just had to keep trying to get my grades up. There were so many distractions at home: my phone, pets, music, my brother. Surprisingly video games were not a distraction; I never had the urge to play.

AP was a struggle for me, we were going over terms that I just wasn’t processing in my head, not knowing what’s going on. I wasn’t doing bad on the exams. It was the reading test after the chapters because they were such low points, that you couldn’t afford to miss a question.

Proofs started in geometry, and I was completely lost in the first unit. It was so confusing to me. I didn’t understand it. Now that we are in the second unit, I am starting to understand it more.

My mom was on top of me for my grades all the time.

“Drew, you need to get your grades up before the semester ends. You want to play football, right?” she says to me.

“Yes, Mom, of course I want to play football, but having to take 2 honors and an AP class isn’t helping my situation right now. Maybe if Dad had let me drop the AP class when I could and pick up another one, maybe I wouldn’t be failing two classes. Maybe I would be able to focus and not have the stress of having to do this and that all the time.”

I was fed up with the AP class. It was too much stress, and I shouldn’t have taken it as a freshman.

“Drew, we can’t do anything about that now. You need to try and pay attention and get the work done!” was always the response. 

I always felt like I was right; she always felt like she was right. There was no point in arguing it. I did need to get my assignments in though. She was right there, and my dad told me not to quit in school. I was in a bad spot.

As we transitioned into hybrid, I noticed an instant spike in my performance. I felt as if I was doing better than before. I think it’s the in-person contact with teachers that is helping me. I’m hoping it helps me and I start to understand the subjects I am struggling in more.

We went to a hybrid schedule, [and now it’s] done after a week. We now are remote learning again, and for the time to come, I think I might be fine.