Online School, Long Naps, and Lots of Homework | Teach For America

Rosalie lives with her parents, brother and sister,  grandmother, and uncle. Both her parents have continued working in essential jobs outside the home throughout the pandemic, her mother as a school safety agent and her father as a New York City police detective.

In part because of her parents’ jobs, Rosalie says she is very aware of the toll COVID-19 has taken on her community, and she is mostly staying indoors these days, out of concern for protecting her grandmother. But Rosalie, who loves documentaries and basketball, has nevertheless remained busy while school is closed, between schoolwork, thinking about colleges, keeping up with friends, and finding some time to relax. 

In the latest installment of “COVID-19: Community Voices,” Rosalie tells us how she’s been spending her time while school is closed, and what’s working—and not working—with distance learning.

‘Honestly, I don’t Like This Virtual Learning’

How have you been doing?

I feel my school prepared me a lot. Our school is lucky enough to give every student at BELA a laptop, and so we’re very techie, I guess you can say that. When the pandemic happened, when [other] New York City kids had a week off, we were doing our studies, we didn’t have a week off. Once that Monday hit [when New York City schools began widespread remote learning], we were right into school and virtual learning. 

I’m a junior, so I think this has given me time to pick my colleges and pick what my future [will look like]. It’s given me downtime to think what I want my future to be and thinking on my personal essay and stuff like that, and working on me.

Another thing is, when you’re on the screen 24/7, you have this headache and it makes it hard for you to do work and concentrate. A lot of my peers or my friends are complaining about getting headaches. All we do is we’re talking to a screen and then we’re always on our phones. We’re on YouTube, we’re on Facebook, we’re on Snapchat, and so I’m constantly having headaches, and Advil has been coming in handy.

How are classes going?

Honestly, I don’t like this virtual learning. I feel like it’s weird. I feel I hesitate to ask questions and to ask for help because I feel like I’m invading my teacher’s time and they’re going through something, too, so I have to be respectful of what they’re going through. 

Time is more precious now that I’m on a virtual screen because I’m making sure that I’m not wasting anyone’s time. The questions I do ask, I make sure it’s for everyone and not for my own personal use because I feel I don’t want to waste the teacher’s time.

Do you get one-on-one time with your teachers at all?

We have office hours, and if I say I need help, they assign a Google Hangout and we go to the Google Hangout and they do help us.

Has that been helpful?

I’ve been using it for math and chemistry. It is helpful. The teachers find new ways to connect with us, and so if I don’t understand something, they try a new way to do it. 

Do you think this will give a new perspective on going to school when you are able to go back?

I’m 17, then next year I’m going to be 18, and I’m going to go to college. When I go into senior year, when, hopefully this pandemic stops, I’ll appreciate that time I have with my friends, and the time I have with my teachers.