Amaya Ortiz - Staff Writer

First Day Wonders..

My first day was one to remember. Going to a new school was an adjustment in itself. I didn’t know anyone in my classes or even where most of them were at for that matter. A lot of the people I know had different classes then me or there remote. It was hard walking in the hallways due to the fact that I didn’t want to mess up and get in trouble for going the wrong way. It was nice only having to come to two classes instead of four, this made it easy for me too. It definitely wasn’t easy wearing a mask for 3 hours straight. Than, on top of that the mask make my allergies far worse.

Senior AJ Zamora says, "My “first day back” was online and to be honest I really did not like it. The reason I say this is because I knew my senior year was never going to be normal. But now even though we have a certain amount of days to go to school and we have to wear masks I’m glad we are able to interact will others in person. I just wish we weren’t in this situation and everything could be normal."

Senior Isaac Martines says "My first day of school was weird. Going to school it wasn’t the same. The school was like a prison where no one was allowed to do anything. It was cool seeing all the people I knew again but it wasn’t worth it. It was very sad."

Senior Amelia Richey states, "I think it’s cool that they were able to find a way for us to still be able to go to school but safely. Just wish it was more organized. For some classes it’s very easy and seamless but for others like math I think it’s harder because it’s a more hands on class. I’m doing online because rona is scary and passing periods are crazy and packed and I don’t know where other people have been so I chose not to go back. Most of my family’s schedule is still the same except for my dads he works from home now. Home life has changed because i’m not home alone any more. Things can be very distracting and sometimes it’s not easy to want to pay attention especially since it is now only lectures and not activities and stuff.

Erika Yevara is a senior who says, " I think the new hybrid dynamic of school is pretty cool because I know some kids struggle with the fact that they can't get the one on one learning they need from teachers at home online, and hybrid allows kids to minimize going out of the house and exposing themselves to the virus but also being able to go in and get that help still. I think online learning is pretty hectic right now. It can be stressful because the assignments are pretty scattered in some classes but I think it takes some time to adapt to and that throughout the year we will all get better at it. I am doing fully online learning in order to minimize the risk of getting the virus because I live with 2 people that are at high risk for corona. My family's schedule has changed because my mom used to work everyday and now she is able to stay home 2 days of the week and go in 3. The environment I work with for online learning is in my room at my desk or in my bed, and honestly it affects me different all the time. Sometimes I'm able to focus better because I'm not with my friends but also I sometimes get distracted by being on my phone and notifications, but it's quiet and I don't have any distractions from people at home.

It has been hard on everyone recently. The remote and hybrid work is hard and can be confusing. I know it's been hard on everyone especially missing friends.

Friendships during Covid

Maintaining a close friendship has been really hard. This is due to the fact that we can barely hang out since everyone is worried about Covid. I have some friends that I can hang out with since I haven’t stopped being around them and my family has been around them. However, there are some people I haven’t seen since last school year and now we barely talk to each other. Which is sad because we used to be so close but now we can’t really hang out anyway.

There are also friends I see but we both are super far away from each other. It’s also super hard to make friends especially since everyone is worried about others having covid. Then when you make friends at school you can’t always hang out due to the fact that usually someone’s parents aren’t okay with that or are even scared. I still try to make it work since I really want to maintain a social life. I feel like having a social life even a little is very important. I also feel like we need to be able to talk to people outside of our family. It’s also been hard to see my family like my grandparents and other family members.

A lot of my friends I have talked to say that they wish we could see each other more and be able to hang out with each other in person again. Everyone wants to hang out with me but both my sister and mom are compromised. So I distance myself from my friends a lot more to make sure I don’t bring covid home to them. Especially both of them will probably end up in the hospital. It’s been a struggle and sometimes I really miss seeing all my friends.

I hope that I will eventually not have to worry about covid. I will be able to see my friends and hug them. I can’t wait to hang out in groups and not have to worry about wearing a mask or having to distance myself from my friends. I can’t wait to not have to worry about being around my family and possibly getting sick from them.

Finding Motivation

These last few weeks of remote learning has been quite a challenge. I lost so much focus and drive I feel like I’m not getting anywhere. My motivation to do work it’s just going down the drain I miss school. It’s hard trying to get myself up knowing that I’m not going anywhere but maybe 3 feet to my computer where I have to try and learn lessons behind a screen. It’s hard I feel stupid I don’t understand assignments or notes as well as I did at school. It’s especially hard being a visual learner I’m not getting the visuals I need to succeed in school. I know it’s hard on teachers it’s hard on all of us I just wish Covid was not here.

I feel like even though I’m understanding classwork the motivation is not as strong as a procrastination. I’m trying to stay focused between between my sister and brother being in school all the zoom classes get to be so much. Trying to listen to my teacher will my siblings ours on zooms and my mom is on work calls it’s hard to focus. Not to mention the noise makes my anxiety spike but when I go to my bedroom I just seem to find myself trying to stay awake. Trying to do zoom classes in my room it’s hard cause I just want to go to bed.

I don’t know why but I’m tired all the time there’s no explanation since there’s not much I do anymore. Maybe it’s because I’m just losing my motivation but I’m trying my best not to. Homework is so hard, I try to do it on time but somehow I lose focus and the drive then it’s already do and I haven’t begun I don’t know why I do this. Maybe it’s just cause I can’t focus because I miss the classroom environment. The motivation to do my work it’s so much easier when I was in a classroom.

Holiday Break

I’m so ready for Christmas this year‘s been quite a long one and I’m ready for the break from school too.I hope that when we come back from Christmas break will be able to do hybrid learning again. I miss having that little interaction at school and in the classroom. It helped me feel like this year was somewhat normal. It also helped me motivate myself to do my work and accomplish more. Christmas is going to be fun though I can’t wait to celebrate with my family. This is the first year I got to get my immediate family gifts. I’m so beyond excited to be able to start giving I’ve always wanted to give gifts for the longest time I just never had the expenses to do so however, this year I did.

I’m also excited for the new year hopefully the new beginnings. I know next year might not be much better than this year but I want to make it the best I can. I want to work on my motivation and drive to accomplish things and not let my anxiety take over so much.I’m happy that I get to start the new year with my family because they are my support system and I know I wouldn’t have made it through this year without them. I’m just happy that we’ve all gotten through this year and are all still healthy that’s something we can be grateful for in these trying times. I know that we won’t be back to what was normal 100% but I hope we can go back to a little bit of normal.

I am excited for the break from school. I’m hoping I can get some motivation back from when we come back to school. I want to work harder I’m not procrastinating my homework and I want to work on communicating with my teachers when I need help since I am a visual learner.

State in a Pandemic

Hopefully states comes we’ve been working really hard as a team. We’re all putting the work in the hours for our state dance. It’s not always been easy but I can’t wait no it will be worth it. I will say it’s been hard some days my hip Just doesn’t want to give. Which is hard because it feels like my injury still continues to hold me back. I know I’m not completely 100% healed but it still hurts knowing that I will ever be the same dancer I once was due to it.

I’m pushing through I’m working on physical therapy making sure I don’t pass my limits. Being able to compete in State will be such a big deal at least for me since I was told at one point I would never be able to dance again. That was hard hearing, but I’m pushing past becoming stronger and defying the odds that were put against me. I turn my doctor I want to define the odds to prove him wrong, and I’m doing just that. Dancing is my outlet it makes me happy he gives me way to relieve stress. So being able to do it makes me so happy. I’m so ready to push and prove those limits wrong.

Working in a Pandemic

Working in a Pandemic is definitely something unexpected. I am excited to be able to walk into work and not have to put mask on for 5 hours. I am definitely nervous to go back to the a bigger capacity.