As everyone knows, schools all around the world have had to change their ways of teaching. Technology has been a saving grace in this weird time! We still have Google Classroom, Edmentum, and Google Meets to submit assignments and communicate with our teachers and classmates. Of course, it’s not the same. Not even close, actually. 

School before all of this went down was stressful, but fun. We were preparing for our writing SOLs, which we had right before school closed down for the rest of the year, and reviewing content for our other subject SOLs. We were looking forward to the upcoming spring break and exclusive 8th grade activities coming soon. We had just had our 8th grade winter-formal dance, which was one of the best nights of our teen lives! I’m so glad that we could have that last fun time all together before we had to say goodbye till the next school year. The news of the Coronavirus was up in the air, but we had no idea that it would end the year in a matter of just a few days. March 11th was our last day of real school for a while, and no one knew it until the next morning.

As an 8th grader, this time is disappointing for me. I’m going to be in high school next year, and I can’t experience my last day of 8th grade hugging teachers, signing yearbooks, cleaning out lockers, and even bawling with my friends. I’ve been looking forward to the last day of 8th grade for a few years, but now it’s not going to happen. :’( Online school could be way worse, but it’s still overwhelming and complicated. It’s not even comparable to being a real student at a real school. I can’t see my friends, talk with my teachers, and learn in a classroom environment. 

Despite all the weirdness and uncertainty happening in our nation right now, I’m grateful to have good health, food, a home, and technology during this time. It’s hard to keep your head up right now, I know. I sometimes overthink all of this, which doesn’t do any good for me. Find something that you are looking forward to in the near future. This will all be over soon. We just need to be patient and social distance so that we can go back to normalcy. Thank you for reading this post! It’s not the brightest post of mine, but I know it’s relatable to a lot of people. Just know that you’re not alone at this time! Everyone is confused, worried, sad, and unmotivated. Comment down below how you feel during this pandemic. As always, keep it cool and comment your blog URL, too! 

-Anna Claire