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Youth Voices: School Experience During the Pandemic
Each summer, ASCI gives school-aged students the opportunity to get hands-on internship experience at our agency! One of our fantastic interns gave us personal insight on his school experience during the pandemic. Can you relate?
By Kelsey Hundley
When the pandemic started, I was in eighth grade. The new year just started and at first, we were hearing about the virus, but as you would expect, no one took it seriously. My friends and I actually made jokes about it. The kids my age make jokes about virtually everything, so when something like this pops up, we just brush it off.
A couple days later, on Friday, March 13, 2020, my school sent everyone an email explaining that there would be no school for the next 10 days. Initially, everyone was happy because, what’s better than getting news that you don’t have to go to school for more than a week? I let my mom know, and she sounded a little bit concerned and worried about the virus, but I didn’t really give it any attention because I figured it would fade away.
Eventually, it was almost time to head back to school. I started to prepare myself, but then we received unexpected news that we were off for an additional two weeks. This time, there was a twist: We still had to attend virtually!
I first thought that working virtually might be easier than regular school, because we might not have to do as much, but that wasn’t the case. Working virtually felt like they gave us more and more work every day. After the two weeks were over, they postponed in-person school again and again until the school year finally ended.
When school eventually ended, there was nothing to do because everything was closed. So, for most of the summer, all I did was play my Playstation and go to football practice every day.
September 7, 2020, was the first day of my ninth-grade school year, and things were slowly getting better. We had the option to do a hybrid schedule: two days a week or stay completely online. I picked hybrid, because I got bored of sitting in the house all day.
The year went by slowly. It was upsetting, because I didn’t have all the high-school fun the kids before me had, such as homecoming, semi-formals, pep rallies and much more. However, it was easier because I was used to the virtual work they’d been giving us. So, in a way, I guess that doing virtual allowed me to do better academically.
Now, I’m going to the 10th grade and don’t know what to expect, but whatever comes my way, I’m sure I’ll be ready for it.