With the pandemic surging, Waterford High School uses the hybrid schedule to start off the school year. They gave the option for students to come in for the hybrid schedule or stay home for full distance. Kristen Gregory, a sophomore at the high school, decided to stay at home full distance, while her sister McKenzie, a junior began with the hybrid schedule. Kristen explained that she preferred learning from home for many reasons, the largest being it being more comfortable at home, “My best friends were doing full distance,” she added. With her friends not being at school either, she didn’t really want to go.

There are many things that Kristen prefers about distance education, “I do not miss the full blocks of class. The five minute passing times. The full period of gym (she used a smile with a sweat mark emoji).” She enjoys having more independence with her learning. Unlike her sister, Kristen doesn’t participate as much. She enjoys not having to worry about being called on all the time. At times she gets out of class early, she doesn’t have to sit through the full 80 minutes. She is also happy about being able to use her phone more: “I like how much free time I get and having my phone all the time.”

Although there are things she favors about distance learning, there are some things she misses. The most pressing being just socializing with people, “being able to interact with friends and just being around them. I also miss lunch and talking/building relationships with my teachers.” Kristen explained some of the downfalls of not being able to interact with her friends: “friends that I was never really best friends with … I don’t communicate with as much anymore.” She is still able to keep in contact with her close friends through Facetime and was even able to meet somebody new, even though it was hard: “I have only made one new friend and it was because she was really outgoing and kinda knew one of my friends.”

There are some inconveniences about distance learning, one being less communication. Kristen is a part of the school’s key club, which is “very different because I can’t do much from home and we aren’t always able to communicate.” Even though there are these issues, she says her teachers have been very helpful. When asked about her classes and how teachers have made learning easier she explained that her favorite is Spanish “because Mrs. Marchese has made me feel really safe to email with help or any questions. My chemistry teacher Mrs. Pesko is very helpful with emails and private zooms as well. Mrs. Marchese also involves the online people very well and has the whole block filled out, which helps a lot to get the work done.”

Overall, Kristen has been enjoying full distance learning. Their are still some bump, but it’s been going well she says, “ I think everything is as good as it can get, I think some teachers just going through Google slides for an hour is a little rough and hard to focus, especially when it’s just Google slides, quizzes, and back and forth.”