As most, if not all, events have been canceled, I’m going to assume that at least some of you are like me and have no idea what to do with yourself. It’s not a good situation in any way but with all this new free time that we have I’d like to encourage you to use it in a way that benefits you. And what’s a better use of time than to look into subjects that could interest you? So I’ve compiled a short list of places to go that could help you fall down that virtual rabbit hole. 

The United Nations: Current events around the world are always important to know about. On their front page they always have articles on new updates and if you go to the ‘documents’ section you can scroll down and find links to everything they have archived. Whether your interests lie with environmental or social issues you might find something there. (Link)

Coursera: This one’s a bit different from others on this list and it wasn’t meant for high school students, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t use it. Coursera provides free college level courses from colleges all over the country. It’s partnered with the likes of Yale, Google, and the University of Pennsylvania. It has more than 4,000 courses, including those for beginners. It’s a really good way to look into what you want to do and give possible future options a bit of a trial run instead of risking precious money and time on them during your actual college career. (Link)

The United States Holocaust Museum: If you’re in Mr. McGowin’s class you’ve already been around this website quite a bit, but I thought I’d throw it in here for those who aren’t. On the website for the Holocaust museum you can search through hundreds of videos, pictures, and real accounts of the Holocaust from multiple perspectives. They also have a lot of information on other genocides that have taken place in modern history. If you’re at all interested in history or even things like politics, this is a good place to go. (Link)

Open Culture: Another platform that has free online courses for multiple subjects, but this time for a variety of age groups, it also has free text books, audio books, and ebooks. There are also free movies, but from what I’ve seen most of the movies are blocked on the school computers so some of you might not have access to those. (Link)

I hope at least one of these is of use to you. I’d also like to encourage any of you that can help out other students that you know in transitioning to online courses to do so. Everyone’s nervous and frustrated at the moment and that makes community ties even more important than before. If you have any other website that you’ve been using to burn the time, please feel free to leave it in the comments below!