Editorial Policy: The opinions and views on the opinion page are not necessarily those of Liberty High School, Journalism Class, its adviser, or any other affiliated party.
Imagine starting senior year during a world pandemic that has affected your life in various ways. Envision the pandemic bringing many changes into your life and influencing your personal life and school life in ways you were never expecting. Picture your senior year through online distance learning. Visualize yourself having to complete your senior year through a computer screen and not having the opportunity to meet your teachers and classmates in person. Imagine not having the ability to see your friends and teachers in person and socially interact with one and another. How would you feel about your senior year if you were to picture yourself in this situation of getting educated through a computer screen and not having the opportunity to walk across the field at graduation and tossing your graduation cap in the air?
The Coronavirus pandemic has become a worldwide issue that significantly brought many unexpected educational changes to the lives of high school graduating seniors. Liberty High School senior students had begun their senior year through virtual online-distance learning. Senior students are still continuing their education through online-distance learning to ensure they follow safety measures guidelines to reduce the number of Covid-19 cases. Virtual online-distance learning can be extremely challenging and difficult for seniors as they approach steps into the next chapter of their lives.
Senior year for other students is always filled with fun and enjoyable memories with friends, classmates, teachers. Sadly, for the class of 2021 it's hard to create as many memories as students wish they could because they aren't physically at school. Currently, students are attempting to do online school through Zoom meetings with teachers and classmates and turning in assignments regularly through Canvas. Similarly, to how students attended campus every day before the pandemic, students now attend Zoom meetings every day to continue their education. In other words, the Zoom application resembles the school campus. The Canvas application resembles a place where students turn in all assignments. Students also join the tutorial period to get help from their teachers. There are many challenges and obstacles through this journey that senior students experience because they are not used to this learning style. It's difficult for seniors and their peers to adapt to these new changes but it is important to stay strong and have a positive attitude through this learning journey as they move forward. It's essential that seniors remind themselves not to give up and keep trying during these hard times because it will pay off at the end.
The end of the school year is approaching rapidly, and the seniors are preparing to obtain their goals for their lives post high school. During these difficult times of dealing with a pandemic, seniors are making decisions and choices that determine their next step in life in order to pursue their goals and become successful. Many seniors have applied or are planning to apply to colleges and universities independently to fulfill their dreams. Most seniors also applied to scholarships and grants to further their education goals.
Being a graduating senior during a massive outbreak can be very stressful and challenging for students because students are transitioning from in campus learning style to online distance learning and most importantly seniors don't have the same opportunities and might lack the support and resources they need to further assist them in moving forward in life. Some seniors are struggling with attempting to do their work online through a different platform and keeping up with the amount of work given to them from each class. Ms. Magana, a counselor at Liberty High School describes some of the other obstacles seniors might face stating, “Technology issues complicate things further, whether it's Zoom login issues, forgotten passwords, not knowing how to access certain online portals, WI-FI issues... I imagine it can get quite overwhelming. Our daily life as we know it changed. Even though this is a temporary shift, it's been hard on a lot of students on many levels. It's difficult to condense the challenges our students are facing in just a few sentences.”
Other people may argue that being a graduating senior during a pandemic is not difficult or challenging because senior year of high school supposedly is easy. Many might think that since seniors are in virtual-distance learning style during a pandemic teachers give out less assignments and tests. Other people might think that students involved in an online distance learning style does not affect seniors' learning abilities. Some think that teachers as well as counselors are available anytime of the day and will respond immediately to students.
However, my senior year has been quite difficult and challenging because I never had expected to do my senior year online. Also, it was a struggle transitioning from in campus learning style to online distance learning because I wasn't very familiar with this learning style and I lacked technology skills. However, this online learning style has vastly improved my technology skills since I discovered ways to navigate various applications like Zoom, Clever, and Canvas and found out different through tools and key elements. These different applications we use during online distance learning can be stressful because it doesn't work or properly function at times for students and teachers. I personally like Zoom because it has key features including the chat feature, breakout rooms, wipe board feature, and sharing your screen with others that we utilized in some of my classes to help us make the best out of this learning style. But one thing I dislike about Zoom is having my camera on at all times because I can feel uncomfortable showing my face.
Even though I have never expected to do my senior year through online distance learning, I personally like virtual online distance learning because it makes it easier to work from home since there are less responsibilities, I don't need to wake up extra early to get ready and dressed, drive and deal with traffic issues, walk across campus just to get to another class, and stay longer after school to print out some assignments for the next day. Online distance learning has not lessened the amount of workload I received, instead some of my classes have overloaded the amount of work to ensure that students are getting the right amount of practice they need to be able to fully understand and learn various concepts and ideas. It's sad not having the ability to see my friends and teachers in person and socially interact with one and another.
As a senior attending campus for three years in the past, I know some of the students and teachers in my current classes because I have had courses with these individuals throughout my freshman and junior year. Sadly, I never had the chance to meet most of the other students and teachers in my current classes who I have never seen before in person. This makes it hard to actually know them truly to build a relationship with them, as a result it makes it difficult to connect with some of my classmates and teachers when I am not comfortable enough with them.
My heart goes out to the incoming freshmen’s because they have never attended campus to meet their teachers and peers in person before so it's a different perspective for them. Class of 2021 was most looking forward to events like their senior sunrise, senior ball, and graduation which have or might look different this year due to the pandemic. It's sad that me and some of the other seniors who were enrolled in an academy have been preparing and learning about the skills we need to be in an internship site all these past years however, we don’t have the opportunity to put these skills into practice and be involved in an internship site due to the pandemic. The seniors lack the opportunities to fulfill their expectations of what their class of 2021 had for them. Online distance learning has made it difficult to connect and talk to teachers and counselors at that second you need a hold of them because they are only reachable during certain hours of the day through email. Whereas, on campus teachers and counselors would be available at all times during school hours so I would stop by my teachers classroom if I needed help or support. As a result, it was a struggle for me to do my college applications and financial aid papers because I lacked the support and help I needed. I did ask my friends and family for help and guidance with the process of my college application and financial aid.
Teachers and counselors ensured to make seniors aware of deadlines and due dates through numerous ways as Ms. Magana states, “For seniors this includes our senior calendar with important dates and deadlines, information regarding FAFSA and scholarships. We have search tools to help guide students with college related research, provide information on unions, trade schools, and the military. We recommend checking our Canvas website regularly to stay up to date with counseling related announcements and events which are posted on our calendar. Counselors also send messages to our seniors via Canvas with important reminders. Emails are also sent out to families regarding upcoming events and deadlines.”
In my opinion, senior year has been a difficult and challenging time for many students. The most important thing to remember during this pandemic and online distance learning is to never lose hope and keep trying until you reach your final destination and you're happy. The hard work will eventually pay off for you one day. You just gotta stay strong, have a positive mindset, and surround ourselves with good people despite the challenges we are facing during this difficult period.
Cover photo by Belkhis Hoseny.
About the writer: Belkhis Hoseny is a staff writer for The Lion's Roar. You can learn more information about the writer by clicking here.
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