Wow, I can’t believe it’s already day three of self-quarantining. That means I’ve spent at least 30, if not more, hours sitting on my heat pad in front of my laptop. Yikes.
My biggest critique of remote education is online classwork. Some of my teachers sent me home with paper homework to start off, and I have a few books to read. It is difficult for me to spend so much time in front of my laptop because the blue light causes an obnoxious ache behind my eyes to spread all the way up to my eyebrows where it sits like a heavy pile of rocks.
I will be quite happy to sleep in an extra hour tomorrow since it’s Saturday. I still have homework to do, though, despite all my hard work the last few days. My teachers assigned readings and activities for the time we would usually spend talking about the lesson in class, and since there is no way to meet with a large group right now (especially when the internet is slow), having a discussion is not always an option.
My internet keeps crashing and kicking me out of Google Drive, even when I know I have WiFi, which is one of the reasons for my extra homework tomorrow. I imagine a lot of people are using the same services as I am and are bogging down the internet. Since tens of millions of Americans are now working at home, some families have been experiencing slower internet speeds, according to the news platform NBC New York. It’s still annoying, though. I have a lot of classes to get through, and I don’t have time to watch the spinning blue circle while my page loads.
Although I despise sitting for long periods because I get back and hip pain and my impatience builds, there are several teensy benefits of online school. Firstly, I get to shape my schedule. I can choose whether to do Spanish or Chemistry first and by doing so, I can work on my harder classes earlier in the day while I’m sharp. Secondly, I get to work in the comfort of my home. At school I wouldn’t get to sit on a heat pad for my back, unless I hauled one all the way there, and I definitely wouldn’t get to take ice cream breaks.
After I took my chemistry exam, which I completed through Schoology, and worked on stories for newspaper, I made myself a sugar-loaded ice cream treat in a little glass dish from our kitchen. I scooped out a healthy serving of leftover homemade chocolate lava cake (which I would strongly recommend any time you need a mood boost) and paired it with a scoop of vanilla and chocolate swirled ice cream.
My homework was slightly more manageable after that, although my eyes were still exhausted, and I missed seeing my friends. My lunches have been very quiet the last few days. I sometimes eat with my mom and sister if they’re on the same schedule as me, but I am sad I can’t sit in the band hall during lunch or hang out with people in any of my classes. I spent a little time on Instagram, but of course that also hurt my eyes, so I gave up and did some stretching before hitting the books again.
I am concerned about contracting the coronavirus, which is why I haven’t strayed far from my house in a while. I have been on a few walks but have not been to the store. I had an online lesson with my flute teacher yesterday, too, because I was coughing and didn’t want to spread any germs. Sometimes I wish I could be one of my cats because the Centers for Disease Control said there is no evidence yet that pets can contract COVID-19 from humans. Nevertheless, chocolate is poisonous to cats, and I can’t live without my chocolate. For now, I guess I can tolerate being a human.
How is your third day of social distancing going? Let us know in the comments below.
