Since the start of the pandemic, we’ve all learned many things such as: who our real friends are, how important socializing is, and how we’ve learned so much about ourselves in the past 2 years.
Although COVID turned out to be a difficult time for us, it also helped some of us gain confidence in ourselves.
These three high school students from Kern County shared the things they’ve learned throughout the pandemic.
Q: What have you learned throughout COVID leave?
A: I am a 16 year old junior who attends Golden Valley High School. Although COVID is one of the worst things that has happened recently in the world, I am pretty grateful it happened because I learned very valuable lessons while being in quarantine. I maintained good grades even though it was challenging at times. In addition, I learned some very valuable life lessons — mainly about dealing with friends
I used to put friends over myself which damaged my mental health really badly. Being away from them and seeing how much better I did; I thought they played a really big role in my life, only to realize its cause I would talk to them everyday at school. Not having to worry about friends also helped my anxiety very much. I rarely deal with anxiety now because I surround myself with real friends who help me so much everyday.
Looking back, I have to say COVID had a positive impact on me. I am very proud with the respect I have for myself now, and I wouldn’t change a thing that happened.
A: I am 17 years old and I go to Golden Valley. Throughout COVID leave I’ve learned how important socializing is. During distance learning it was hard to learn because I couldn’t interact with my teachers and understand what they were talking about; it was difficult to be present and pay attention in class when the classes were all online. Not being in class to see what I was supposed to be learning made it hard to focus and I had trouble retaining the information. Since I’ve been back in school I’ve made better grades, have an easier time focusing, and have been overall more happy now that I can learn in person.
A: I am a 17 year old student at Independence High School.
When I think of COVID, I think of: masks, people getting sick, and lockdowns. When we left school for two weeks, I was happy to leave school but that’s all I thought; I didn’t think of the long term challenges. When school was online the next school year, I didn’t know how to feel since this had never happened. The thought of staying home and just turning on your computer was fun but I slowly began to dislike school.
The online year made me more lazy and I procrastinated a lot more. I would stress at the end of each quarter since I didn’t do my work on time, yet I could have prevented the overwhelming if I did my work and wasn’t lazy about it. So I did learn at the end of that year to not fall back from school ever again. I also realized who my friends were. At school you would talk to people in different classes and when we went online I didn’t even really talk to any of them even now when we are back at school. Although COVID did teach me who my three friends were and now they are like sisters to me!
I also learned to have more time and self care. I began painting, writing in journals and just listening to music because it all felt very calming to me. Although COVID isn’t over, I have learned a lot of who I am and who I want to be.
