By Deborah George
On March 23, 2020, all New York public schools went on lockdown because of COVID-19, and will remain closed for the rest of the academic school year. This pandemic has changed the lives of staff, faculty, and the students. Everyone is trying to cope with remote/online learning.
In addition, many students are worried about their APs, SATs, current classes, and the future. Below, MCSM students, Samina Ahmed (current senior), Preeti Gurung (current senior), Amarachi Akabogu (current junior), and Jahanara Hoque (current junior) share their experiences during this lockdown.
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Q: How has your overall well being been affected by COVID 19?
Samina: “Healthwise, I feel fine. Mentally, I’ve had a few breakdowns but they were not that serious. The only thing keeping me sane is listening to music and watching Asian dramas. I’ve only stepped out of my house once and I sit in my backyard here and there. I keep track of how long the quarantine will continue and write in my journal to relieve my stress. Overall, COVID-19 hasn’t affected me much but it definitely made me realize how I should treasure all the moments I’ve had with my friends.”
Preeti: “I think my overall well being has not been affected by COVID-19 . I live in Queens which was the epicenter for the virus at one point, however, I feel like my family took the proper precaution so no one was affected by the virus. But not being able to go outside was kind of hard at first but I am used to it now because it was for the well being of others.”
Amarachi: “My overall well being is in a good state. I’m the type of person who likes to stay indoors, so I’m not itching to go outside. Staying inside has allowed my family and I to spend more time together. I am grateful to live in an area that hasn’t been affected by the pandemic. I’m also grateful for having two parents that still have their jobs, and for having a good supply of food.”
Jahanara: “The lockdown was fun at the beginning but it turned into boredom.”
Q: What are the biggest challenges faced by online learning?
Samina: “Since we’ve all been suddenly shifted to remote learning, I think the biggest challenge I faced was keeping up with my classwork. At school, it was the teacher’s duty to automatically take attendance and give us the work. For remote learning, I would have to remind myself to log in my attendance for a specific class. I’ve also noticed that the teachers gave extra work than what was normally given at school. But eventually, I was able to cope with the change and I’m handling it very well now.”
Preeti: “The biggest challenge that I faced by online/ remote learning was I was unproductive during the whole remote learning. Sometimes, I wasn’t able to log into my classes due to the internet problems. I was also feeling unproductive because the schedule was really flexible and it depends on me for being on the task.”
Amarachi: “My biggest challenge is motivating myself to do my work.”
Jahanara: “Teachers are giving us so many assignments to do. They are also giving us extra time to finish but I always end up doing at the last moment. And it’s making me learn nothing from online classes.”
Q: How are you staying connected with your friends during this time?
Samina: “My friends and I still text each other here and there. We both understand that we’re going through tough times, especially during our senior year, so it’s okay if we don’t text each other right away. I Facetime a few of my friends and we just talk about what we have been up to and if we watched any new t.v. shows. It gets tiring to constantly keep looking at a screen but it’s for the best.”
Preeti: “I am staying in touch with my friends by doing facetime or just by texting. If we are free, then we have a netflix party where we can all watch our favorite shows together.”
Amarachi: “I stay connected with my friends by calling and texting them. Once in a while, one of us might watch a movie and tell the other to watch it. Then, we talk about the movie we watched.”
Jahanara: “We text and FaceTime each other every day and play online games together.”
Q: How has your summer plan changed as a result of COVID -19?
Samina: “For this summer, I wanted to work and get paid, just like my previous summer. But because of the circumstances, the NYC Department of Youth & Community Development has decided to suspend SYEP(Summer Youth Employment Program) this summer. The program will re-launch in Summer 2021. So there goes my summer lol. I also wanted to ride a bike around my neighborhood to stay in shape but I think I won’t be able to purchase a new bike anytime soon. I’ll resort to indoor yoga and other exercises. My new goal for this summer is to learn a new language and pick up any fun skills.”
Preeti: “During the summer, I was planning to volunteer in my dad’s school which was back in Nepal. However, that plan is cancelled because of the COVID-19 and the border restrictions.”
Amarachi: “My family is unsure of what we’re going to do for summer. We usually travel to other shopping malls in different states, but we’re not sure if we’re going to do that this summer.”
Jahanara: “My plan was to join a summer youth program and I also applied to many summer programs. Since all of them got canceled, I don’t have any plans right now. I am waiting for the lockdown to end, so I can replan what I should do in the summer.”
Q: What are you most concerned about right now?
Samina: “I’m mostly concerned with entering college during my Fall semester. My college already announced their virtual orientation date. I’m expecting that my classes for the Fall semester will be held online, which sucks. I just hope the professors will be understanding and that we’re still getting used to this change. I was looking forward to meeting new people and joining clubs at the beginning of my freshman year. Hopefully, the COVID-19 crisis settles down so we could enjoy our college years.”
Preeti: “I am concerned about the fall semester. As a senior and future college freshman, I want to be able to attend in-person classes and be able to enjoy the freshman orientation and programs. I was also concerned about all the online testing for AP and adapting to it.”
Amarachi: “I’m most concerned about when COVID-19 is going to die down. I’m hoping this is going to die down by the end of June.”
Jahanara: “I want to pass all my AP exams and the classes I took this year.”