It is odd to admit that I was excited when our school announced that we would be starting classes online. The feeling of trying a new way of learning, instead of the conventional way of sitting in a classroom greatly interested me. Doing school in the comfort of my own home was appealing in its own way.
It was fun at first. Seeing the pixelated faces of my friends, getting a glimpse into what their houses looked like, all of it was incredibly interesting to me. I loved seeing the blue, pink, green, and white walls of my classmate’s houses,
However, as more time passed on, I found that being on the computer was more boring than I had first expected. My life started revolving around the computer-even more than it did before. Every news article I read was on the computer. All of my schoolwork was on the computer, whether it was the assignment, or just turning it in. My classes, both inside of school, and extracurriculars were online.
Online classes quickly lost their appeal. Sitting in the same chair all day became a boring task. Going to classes was just a matter of clicking a Zoom link, and just showing my face on Zoom became a tiring task.
Sure, I was able to wake up 45 minutes later, and I didn’t have to rush to eat breakfast, but seeing everyone on the computer screen all the time felt extremely unpleasant. Sometimes, I felt as if I didn’t even know the people I shared a class with.
Every day, I wonder when I can see my friends again, without a 6 feet barrier, or masks covering three-fourths of our faces. But until then, I’ll wait. Until then, I’ll continue to adjust to life through the Zoom screen.
Submitted by Carissa Wu, Santa Clara County – Los Altos.