There were 3 weeks left before spring break finally started. I was patiently counting down the days. Little 5th grade me was so excited to get a week off of school. But she never could’ve imagined it would go from a week, to a year without ever stepping foot into that elementary school again. The world locked down, businesses closed down, and many could only stay with their close family, roommates, or even by themselves. Schools changed from that in-person face-to-face learning to synchronous and/or asynchronous online learning, you couldn’t leave the house, and the only way people could communicate was through those tiny screens, whether they’re laptops, phones and anything inbetween. Technology was the only way people could interact and connect during this difficult time. The world was completely isolated. March 13th, 2020. I’ll never forget that day. The day that we went into lockdown. Schools closed down and went remote, jobs went from in-person to remote, and everything had changed. The day that the whole world turned upside down and changed for everyone.
The shift from in-person learning to virtual learning was very rough at first. It was very chaotic, and so different from what we were used to. Especially since no one had expected or planned that this was going to happen. It was difficult adjusting and logging into every new platform we needed to use to be able to learn. Students, and especially teachers, had to learn how to adapt to this entirely new system. We were introduced to Google Classroom, and mainly relied on Zoom to join 3-4 video calls every day. Teachers communicated differently every day, especially with using different platforms to video chat or do our assignments on. This was veery confusing considering how it was very difficult to understand what they wanted us to do and how they wanted us to complete these tasks. We switched from Zoom to Google Meet constantly to see which one worked better, and instead of seeing others and having them face-to-face, you could only view them in the little squares they’re in with their pixelated faces. It was tough, not having that in-person socialization and instruction. Even though I was shy and introverted pre-covid, I missed being able to play with my small group of close friends at recess and having that in-person school experience that I loved. Although the start was rough, eventually we all started to successfully adjust to these sudden changes. After weeks of experimenting to understand how everything worked, we all got used to these new programs and ways of instruction, and even had specific routines for every day. The last day of school was bittersweet considering that I was graduating elementary school from my house. Instead of getting that annual 5th grade walk around the entire that I admired ever since I was in kindergarten, I got a little ziplock bag with a little confetti cannon delivered to my house. It was very sad not getting that graduation that I was looking forward to for years. But, the learning experience I had made up for it.
In the 2020-21 school year, I was going into 6th grade. I was finally out of elementary school, and starting to enter a new chapter. This chapter was middle school. When I was little, I had always imagined walking in for my first day, and seeing all the new faces. I expected the first day to be perfect. But for me, I had to enter this new chapter from my own home instead of a physical classroom. On a tiny computer screen, where everyone is pixelated and you can’t really see them clearly. At first, it was very difficult. I didn’t know anyone at all since I was nervous about socializing with people at the time. I didn’t know where to begin or how to initiate a conversation. I had started new hobbies since I couldn’t go to my regular dance classes or see my friends because of the world being locked down. Wanting to communicate with others led me to opening up. I wanted to talk to people my age and that I had things in common with. Because of the pandemic, I was only talking to my close family in my household. Luckily, I began talking to people, and bonded not only because of the pandemic, but also from those new hobbies we had in common. We began communicating through that small, hard to read chat box on Zoom, but those few messages led to lifelong friendships that will never be forgotten or taken for granted.
A lot of my classes were very connected. Everyone spoke to one another, and we all bonded through the tough hardships that came with COVID. We had even made group chats in Google Chats, which was the only way that everyone could communicate during that time. A few months later when we all came back and slowly began to do the synchronous in-person learning system once again, I had lots of friends and connections that had positively impacted me and still hold a big part in my life to this day. Before the first day of school, everyone was separated into one of two cohorts. There was Cohort A, and a Cohort B. I was in Cohort A, same as a lot of my friends that I met online during virtual learning. So whenever Cohort A came back to the campus for the first time, we all easily recognized each other and finally met in-person. It was such a surreal feeling, I was so excited to finally meet most of my friends I had met through a screen, it was such an emotional feeling I had never felt before. We all had felt connected through the screens, but it didn’t feel real. So once we got on campus, the connection we had started to feel real. An example of this is my 6th grade science class, which genuinely felt like a family to me. We all had inside jokes together, and I had learned to socialize and talk to these people that I didn’t know because of virtual learning. I had changed for the better because of the virtual experience. That teacher had actual interest in getting to know us, even though we weren’t physically in the classroom with him. He asked us icebreaker questions to not only get to know us, but help us get to know him and my classmates as well, which helped make us so connected during that difficult year. Not only did I go from a shy, introverted person to a sociable and outgoing person, but I also began to be more involved throughout my school and try to have an impact on people’s daily lives by socializing.
I never expected virtual learning to have such a massive powerful impact in my daily life. As an incoming high school senior in this upcoming 2026-27 school year, virtual synchronous learning has helped me learn to socialize more and has helped me grow as a person. To this day, I have always been thankful for any social interaction that comes my way. No matter what mood I’m in, or if my social battery is low. I love talking to people, and won’t ever avoid an opportunity to do so. The girl who was once a shy, nervous introvert, bloomed. I became a social butterfly who strives to make an impact wherever she goes. Now, I am actively present every day. I used to take small talk conversations, little random glances in the hallways, and many of those inside jokes I’d made with the people around me for granted. Now, there’s never a second where I am not taking the time to have a moment where I can talk to someone. I am also actively involved at my school and present wherever I go. I was last year’s award-winning Student Council President at my school, and have gone so far. Without virtual synchronous learning, I would definitely not be the person I am today.
