2020 has been wild, unexpected, and most definitely unfortunate in many ways. While the expectation was new beginnings and a new decade of fun, the year 2020 has faced countless challenges: the most prominent one being a global pandemic. The coronavirus has forced the country to go into a “lockdown”, forcing many schools and workplaces to close.

Schools still have to teach students, however, and that is how we all started online school. Online school is a virtual learning system that will help students learn from the safety of their homes. Not all students were accepting of this in the beginning. Many found it harder to learn and felt that the workload was much higher than before. Despite these disadvantages, there still are many advantages to this new form of school.

“I think online school is a lot better,” said freshman Yash Tiwari. “I mean I can’t see my friends, but we have less work, and it’s a lot easier to get ahead.”

Although juniors and seniors are expressing concerns that it is harder for them to learn virtually and their workload is increasing, many underclassmen including the freshmen and sophomores find that their workload has significantly decreased from when they were in school, and now they have more work time. Instead of having to wake up early in the morning and getting ready for school, students are now learning from their own homes, allowing them the luxury of getting up later. 

In addition, they do not have to come home after school, meaning there are no hassles of waiting in traffic before or after school practices and activities. An end to extracurricular activities upsets some students, but many of them use this extra time to get their work done and pursue their hobbies as school days have been shortened from the original seven and a half hours to four hours and forty-five minutes.

Because during this time, many people’s internet will be tested, teachers are also especially understanding of that. They constantly make sure to check up on their students, ensuring they understand all the material before moving on. This is mainly because virtual learning is new to all of us, and everyone experiences it differently. Furthermore, teachers are more lenient, allowing for more extensions and easier deadlines.  This is especially true for the students that have left the country and are now living in different time zones. All teachers record their lessons, allowing students in different time zones to access them even if they miss out on the virtual class. Additionally, with recorded lessons, missing notes or something a teacher said is not a massive problem!

Online school might not be everyone’s preferred way of learning, so it definitely has its pros and cons. Some students find this new type of learning difficult while others find it easy. However, during an international emergency like this, whether or not we learn much from online school, everyone can certainly learn to adjust a little bit better.