On September 8th, many of us came to school for the first time in 6 months, but the halls are much quieter this year. Some of us are doing all of our work from home. My friend, Sydney Kress, is one student who chose that model. I had the opportunity to interview her to compare the two styles of learning.

Question: What time do you start school in the morning?

Answer: Usually around 5 O’clock.

Q: Do you have meets for all of you classes?

A: At first I didn’t, but now I do, but not everyday

Q: Do you get to make your own schedule?

A: Yes

Q: Do your teachers have different work for you than for the in person students?

A: Yes, sometimes. We have different google classrooms. They have to alter the assignments for the virtual students.

Q: Do you feel less stressed than when school was normal?

A: Yeah

Q: Has doing school remotely given you more free time?

A: I would say no. We get to make our own schedule. With the workload, I am up to 11 p.m. working even though I work all day.

Q: Any other things you would like to mention about doing school remotely?

A: It’s nice having our own schedule and doing things when we want to do them. Staying on top of your work is most important. Remote learning takes away the social stress of school.

Sydney and I have near identical schedules, so I answered the same set of questions myself.

Question: What time do you start school in the morning?

Answer: I start school at 8 o’clock every morning

Q: Do you have meets for all of you classes?

A: I have meets for a few classes on my virtual days, but most of my teachers just assign work that we can do on our own.

Q: Do you get to make your own schedule?

A: Not really. On my virtual days, most of my teachers post assignments when the class would start, so I try to follow the same schedule I would if I were in school.

Q: Do your teachers have different work for you than for the in person students?

A:  Yes. Most of my google classrooms are only other students that go to school in person on the same days as me.

Q: Do you feel less stressed than when school was normal?

A: I feel that the stress is about the same. I still have a lot of work, but the deadlines are weekly instead of daily.

Q: Has doing school remotely given you more free time?

A: I would say yes. The days in school are helpful for staying on top of work, and the days home allow me to work at my own pace.

Q: Any other things you would like to mention about doing school remotely?

A: Contrary to what I expected, the block schedule makes the day feel faster. I thought the longer classes would make the day seem slower, but somehow the classes still feel the same length as when we had 40 minute periods, making everyday feel like a half-day.

As you can see, the two learning options available to us each have their pros and cons. Most of the differences seem to come down to the social aspects of school. Remote learning removes the social interactions of lunch and hallway time, while the hybrid model gives the opportunity to see friends and teachers more often. Each plan has its positives and negatives, and whichever one is best all depends on what you value most from school. Even though I miss seeing everyone everyday, I am glad that we are given the option to choose the learning style that works best for us during this unprecedented time.