Instead of having to wake up hours in advance, students enrolled in virtual school are able to roll out of bed and open their laptops minutes before the start of class. Students participating in at-home remote learning no longer experience walking across campus from class to class or stopping in the hallways to talk with friends. 

Lunch time is spent in one’s house rather than the cafeteria or courtyard. Additionally, most clubs like the Mind-Body Ambassador Club are conducted online through virtual platforms such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams. 

Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School senior Jasmine Gola is one of the many virtual students trying to adapt to the unique online school schedule. 

Gola starts her day only five minutes before her first class by getting out of bed and going to the bathroom. She brushes her teeth, washes her face and opens her laptop to join the Microsoft Teams meeting for her first period, which is Anatomy & Physiology Honors.

After her class ends, she waits eight minutes before joining study hall. Next, Gola enjoys lunch following her personalization period, which for her is a consecutive two-hour break. During this time, she either studies or takes a nap.

Following her learning interlude, Gola goes on with the rest of her school day by logging onto her last two periods, which consist of U.S. Government Honors and Statistics Honors.

Throughout the pandemic, one struggle that Gola has encountered is time management. This causes her to become easily distracted, leading her to procrastinate the completion of her assignments until it is close to its deadline. Gola also feels that it is challenging to wake up on time.

“Once school is done, I have my first meal and [I] watch some Netflix for an hour or so. I then go to my desk and open up all the assignments I need to do for that day, but I just end up scrolling through Twitter and TikTok for the next couple of hours,” Gola said. 

Social media contributes to Gola’s tendency to fall behind and cram assignments a couple hours before they are due. This occurs continuously as she still has not come to deal with that realization.

“After that, I end up cramming and stressing out because I need to get my work done before midnight. This happens so often I still haven’t learned my lesson, but in the end, I finish it on time,” Gola said.

Gola enjoys her new school agenda, especially how convenient working from home is. This new normal allows her to have a more flexible schedule. Despite these consequences, the ease of online remote learning is consoling. 

“Other than all the stress, I’ve enjoyed online school since I like working in the comfort of my own home,” Gola said.

As she enjoys online school and its flexibility, Gola continues to work on her own schedule this school year. Throughout these circumstances, she has found online learning to be easier.