Back to school 2020!
Hey everyone and happy Tuesday! I'm writing this a bit earlier in advance since I'm planning for a busy week (it's currently Sunday while I'm writing this). I have gotten a good amount of things done today and am feeling relatively satisfied with myself and my progress. I'm recently getting more into learning new things on Skillshare and am super excited to start some writing courses.
Recently, I've been working with my school district on a series of videos to help students who may be struggling with not getting to go back to school. I realize this issue is specific for the area I live in, but I also know that many places around the world are doing school differently this year and I want to recognize that. Specifically for me, I'm not going back to school at all (most likely) and going online for the full year. It definitely sucks a lot for me and a lot of my friends as well, which is why I wanted to write a bit about back to school 2020.
It's going to be hard for a lot, especially those who are starting "important" years this year such as "senior year" (or the end of highschool in the US) or those who are starting college or university. Regardless, it's going to be really different and it wasn't what we were expecting 5 months ago when this pandemic first started. All emotions of grief over missed events, missing seeing friends, missed academics, or anything else is completely valid. I think it's easy to brush off these really valid emotions so I wanted to start this forum post with that fact. Whatever emotions you might be feeling about covid19 and school are valid and valued in this sub-community and valid to me!
But I shouldn't be the only person who is validating your emotions about back to school troubles with covid19!! Whatever you're feeling about school is so valid and so important to acknowledge, and we all need to be able to help ourselves out too. One way we can do this is by shifting our ways of thinking so that we're thinking in positive light about some things that would otherwise be really dark and scary to think about. But this is only if you're ready to start thinking of these things differently! For example with the topic about not getting to see friends and schoolmates, we might be thinking "Dang, I'm really sad that I won't be able to talk to my friends often this year." If this is something that you need more time to come to terms with, that's totally okay! But when you're ready to use techniques of CBT to reframe this thought, you can think of it like "I'm sad that I won't get to see my friends this year, but I know doing so will protect them from the virus." I hope that makes sense, but shifting our way of thinking about things can be really helpful!
Another thing that can be a small way that we can ease into online schooling at home is to change up our setup. This can be a big dramatic room makeover, or it can be as simple as cleaning our school desk a bit and hanging up some pictures in our room. Changing our environment up and decorating our workspace a bit can be really important and helpful to make the process of taking online classes a bit less boring. When we're looking forward to sitting in our pretty and decorated workspace, it can even make the whole process more enjoyable! In short, it's helpful to make the less-exciting tasks like online-school more exciting and we can do so by mixing our workspace up.
Remember to stay organized! Although I haven't taken online school for the longest time and am definitely no "expert" on how online school works around the world, it's always helpful to stay as organized as possible. Keep your notes tidy in a folder or create different Google Drive folders if you choose to type your notes! There are tons of YouTube videos on how to stay organized with online school to watch as well along with many different online productivity systems to try out. For me, I'm going to try and set up a Notion page to keep track of all my online classes for school and all of my extracurriculars.
Last but not least, self-care is especially important during these times. In times where there is just so much happening around the world, it's important we're actively taking time out of our days to do things we enjoy doing. Whether if that's doing things like yoga or exercise that are more physical self-care activities or doing less physical activities like art or meditation, I think self-care is crucial in our schedule both in and out of online school to keep our minds healthy! So don't forget to add self-care to your list of things you do while you're taking online classes!
Discussion questions:
1) What are you nervous about for this back to school season?
2) What are some things that you need to get together before school starts again?
3) What makes you laugh the hardest?
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1) What are you nervous about for this back to school season?
I'm concerned that with the current plan it will lead to people dying, as well as people having long-lasting serious health effects and reduced quality of life. I'm worried about both the risk to myself, as well as to others.
2) What are some things that you need to get together before school starts again?
Resolving my health issues would be great, but I also know that's not really possible.
3) What makes you laugh the hardest?
My nephews.
@AffyAvo
Hey Affy <3 Thank you for responding today! Your fears about going back to school are so valid and I agree that it's definitely not safe in the majority of where I live right now. It's good that you realize that. Especially if you have health issues (which I hope get better soon!) I'm concerned for your safety as well 🥺 I'm wishing you the best of that and I'm glad your nephews make you laugh, awh! I hope you get to spend some time with them soon safely, we all need family members like that. :) Take care!
@TheAtticusFinch
Hi. This is a great post! I really enjoyed reading it. :)
1) What are you nervous about for this back to school season?
I'm nervous about taking on too many responsabilities, not finding a mentor for my undergraduate thesis; and that I continue trying to mantain the high expectations others may have about me.
2) What are some things that you need to get together before school starts again?
A COVID precaution protocol (classes will be online, but labs may be hybrid), organize my year; and prepare strategies to deal with my anxiety.
3) What makes you laugh the hardest?
Wild n' Out!
@relaxSea
Hey relaxSea! thank you for responding and I'm glad you enjoyed reading the post! :) Ahhh I understand how hard it is to be nervous about handling responsibilities, trust me. As someone who relates, make sure you're also taking time out of your day to take care of yourself ok? 🥺 You got this and I hope you'll be able to make it through with your undergrad thesis. The expectations are there and I understand it's so pressurizing, I truly hope everything works out well and you're able to stay organized with everything.. we're here for you! I really wish you the best of luck with oragnizing everything for this year. It's not going to be easy :(( but you sound like an incredibly resilient person and you'll be able to get through your anxiety! <33 Awgh I don't know what Wild n Out is but I hope you'll be able to use that in order to cope 🥺💖
1) What are you nervous about for this back to school season?
I'm nervous about how I'm going to do chemistry labs from home.
2) What are some things that you need to get together before school starts again?
Well, I'm all set actually. I just need to finish reading the books assigned for the summer.
3) What makes you laugh the hardest?
Hmm, inside jokes? And Sherlock humor.
@TheGoodFairy
Heyyy fairy <3 thanks for responding! I am honestly also really confused about chemistry since I'm also taking that this year as well. I don't know exactly how that's going to work? But I wish us both of luck with this. I'm glad you're all set for back to school this year- I also have to get my readings done! I love what we're reading though, so I don't mind it. Inside jokes are the best and omg I love Sherlock bbc! :D If you're referring to that part of Sherlock, I can relate so hard and I love Sherlock and John's relationship as well! Take care <3
Hello,
Thank you so much for this thread, I find it very helpful, informative, and motivating! :)
I go back to school in a month. I will be starting my Sophomore year of college, so luckily, not really an "important" or milestone year. I am most nervous about returning to campus. I will be living there, and 4 out of fives of my classes are hybrid (meaing we only meet 4 times in person throughout the entire semester), while 1 is completely online. My school is located in a major city, but they are also taking many, many precautions to ensure our safety. While that has helped me feel more at ease, I do still worry a little about living with 3 other roommates (even though we each get our own bedroom), living in a dorm building that uses a communal laundry room and elevators, and attending classes in person. But, I do plan on taking as many precautions as possible, even if that means sacraficing bonding time with friends, roommates, and classmates. I'm still just trying to process the fact that I am going back, since I was so sure that my classes would be completely online and I would get to stay home. Overall, I am just trying to adjust to these new changes, and take care of myself physically and mentally.
I don't really need to get much before school begins as I have a lot of stuff from last year. I think I just need to get my own silverware since I share a kitchen with my roommates, but we each want our own set of silverware and plates. Other than that, I am pretty prepared.
What makes me laugh the hardest is just random memes or videos that I find on Facebook or YouTube. I find the strangest things to be the most hilarious and entertaining, so that's why I spend lots of my freetime getting lost for hours in these pointless online videos, haha.
@SavoyTruffle20
Hey Savoy! I'm glad you liked the thread and that is was informative to you! This is so well written in terms of reflecting your feelings about this whole situation and I thank you personally for sharing this with me and everyone else in the community. 🥺 I am in a similar boat in a way where this year for me (I'm going into my sophomore year of highschool) isn't the most important year out of the four, but I'm actually doing independent study at home for the entirety of the semester. I can definitely empathize with your surprise about going back to school. This whole situation is just incredibly complicated for students like you and I truly wish you the best of luck returning back to campus. I am really glad that you're taking so many precautions to protect yourself and others- a lot of people are a bit careless and I'm glad you're not one of them! 😊 As brave and courageous and right it is of you to be okay with sacrificing time from friends, I know that isn't the easiest and any feelings you may have about being bummed out about that are totally valid. It's going to be okay, you are your memes from social media will prevail and more importantly your courage and resilience will push through in the end. :) Thanks for sharing and I wish you the best of luck!
@TheAtticusFinch
Thank you so much! I wish you the best of luck as well, and stay safe! These definitely are uncertain times for all of us, but we will all get through it! Thank you for being so kind and allowing people to vent out their frustrations here! You're a great human and I'm hoping for the best for you and everyone else! ❤️
@TheAtticusFinch
1) What are you nervous about for this back to school season?
I am nervous about how online school will go, and how it will go with those who go to face to face. I am also nervous for my college courses that start soon after regular school. But I have high hopes and faith that things will go well :)
2) What are some things that you need to get together before school starts again?
I am working on a bullet journal that focuses on this month so far and I just need some supplies for that, I did need some extra supplies for school but I forgot which ones, and as well I need something for my skincare so I don't look like a potato lol.
3) What makes you laugh the hardest?
I am not sure, whatever I find funny or just a dumb moment I have, I laugh really heard 
@healinghearts0718
Hey healing! Thank you so much for responding to my post today! Ahhh your nervousness and any negative thoughts you may have regarding school is totally valid and I wish you the best of luck and safety when you star online school. It is definitely complicated and nerve-wracking, I understand, but it's amazing that you still have high hopes for everything else. I'm proud of you for that! Omg- we both need skincare and bullet journaling things for school. I love that and I love that we both bullet journal! I actually bullet journal/plan on paper and I recently got an iPad so I'm planning to take digital notes for the rest of the year which is super cool! Ahhh I laugh at my dumb moments as well, it's a good way to cope I think :) Take care!
@TheAtticusFinch
Hey Atticus! Of course and thank you for replying!! As well thank you for your kind words about my upcoming school year stress, and good luck for you if you start school anytime soon. Ahhh I'm glad I relate with someone on skincare and especially bullet journal!! I would love to share ideas and creativity sometime, just let me know!! I would also love to talk more! And congrats on your new IPad, I hope that your notes go well and I'm sure they will be awesome!! :) Take care as well
Hi, I'm Jesi!
1) What are you nervous about for this back to school season? •so my university is not caring enough for the students, they said that we are taking face to face classes, and to be specific my university is at Miami... then they send survey to see what students prefer and due that they will make a new desicion. I hope that they make awarenes of what it's going on, because currently there was some cases positive...Otherwise I'm a student-athlete and by now my conference just confirm that we will have a short-term season... that makes no sense because if one girl in the conference make positive to COVId-19 the whole season will be cancelled! And I'm from out of the states... So I'm more in risk because I need to travel plus that situation!
2) What are some things that you need to get together before school starts again? •to prepare myself about the situation, and be ready for any change or update! Also to be ahead on my 7 cups internship so I don't want to be more busy, when school start. And also doing paper work for college application and other stuff related my future career.
3) What makes you laugh the hardest? • That my university say that they really care about us, when they prefer have us face to face classes whe they were already positive cases, and make us athletes have a season when we are in more contact with other people... Also that Florida right now is insane lol!
@JesiBonill
Heya Jesi, thank you for responding today <3 Oh gosh, I'm really sorry and terrified that your university is doing that. I can definitely empathize with you finding it ironic that they think it's "caring about your safety" when they're doing the exact opposite. Your safety should come first and it's pretty confirmed that most unis can do online learning so I'm not sure why they're doing that to y'all. But that being said, I do hope you stay safe and hope you're able to take the necessary cautions to keep yourself and others safe. You're on the right side of the issue here and it's also so not fair that you have to handle so much (like being a student athlete and internship and also other applications) along with the whole pressure of the pandemic!! I know you'll be able to handle it well and I have full faith in you for that. <3 We're here for you and I wish you the best of luck! Your safety and wellbeing is in my thoughts, take care <3
@TheAtticusFinch I know it's not much to say about it because is complicated. But I do really appreciate your empathy with it and your good wishes for me, thank you so much and me too I have faith that everything go well in a safety way!!! Thank you so much!!! Amen! And now on working forward to be better everyday and get things done!!! Thank you again!
1) What are you nervous about for this back to school season?
I kind of lost contact will all my classmates. My friends from highschool started to act pretty selfish around me right before the lockdown and i told myself that it would be a good time to take a break and focus on myself. I have met my friends like 5 times since march and haven t talked to them on the phone. I am just afraid that it will be so akward when i will be in the same class with them...as they stopped caring at all about me. I am so scared that the breaks at school will be so lonely and i won t be able to meet some new people because of all these restrictions.
2) What are some things that you need to get together before school starts again?
One would be my sleeping habits:) and i pretty much forgot everything that happened the last year so i ll have to look a bit at the lessons too. I also want to learn how to control my anxiety and my ability to focus...
3) What makes you laugh the hardest?
Weeelll.....my cat, he falls asleep in the most uncomfortable positions:)
@basilcandle
Hey Basil<3 Thank you for replying here today! I can really relate to a lot of what you said about loosing contact with your classmates. It's one of the more inevitable things of quarantine and it's not your fault at all. In March, I made a list of the people that I was planning to check in on and to connect with, and it was a huge list of over 50 people but these days I only talk to 4-5 people a day. It's not our fault that this happened and the awkwardness will happen, but I hope your friends are kind enough to understand how destructive quarantine can be to our social lives :( I wish you best of luck with everything, from your sleeping habits to school to your anxiety, I hope it all turns out okay and I know you're strong enough to push through all of that. 🥺 hahaha I love seeing that and I hope you get some nice pictures of your cat lmao <3 take care and good luck, I'm rooting for you!
1) What are you nervous about for this back to school season?
In my case, schools have opened already but I personally chose to remain at home, so I'm still self-studying online. But exams will be held at school, and I'm basically nervous about that. I'm also a lil' nervous because I'll be seeing my classmates again (they thought that I actually changed schools, but it's just my absence for two months) it's gonna be real awkward and idk if I'm prepared for all that stress :/
2) What are some things that you need to get together before school starts again?
My homework and projects :") two months worth of unfinished work is just insane, so I guess I should get all that settled.
3) What makes you laugh the hardest?
Old memes and vines :") how nostalgic, I still cherish the past decade's internet! Reminiscing all these back gives me a good laugh, and probably the best
@BenjaminLee23
Hey Benjamin!! :) I'm in a similar situation as you are in right now where I'm most likely doing independent study since I can't go to school in-person at all this year. I think we're in a similar boat and I can definitely understand it can be really stressful to have to balance everything out, especially when you have to also complete those projects and assignments! Your stress is more than valid, and I'm really wishing you the best of luck with everything. It's going to be hard at the start, but we're always way more resilient than we think we are and I know you are just as strong. Awkwardness is inevitable but we're all understanding of each other and how hard these times have been, so it'll pass and you'll be okay 🥺 Ahhh I think I need to find myself some good vines on YouTube to just watch one day when I'm stressed out, so many people have recommended them!
@TheAtticusFinch
1) What are you nervous about for this back to school season? I'll be starting my first year of college (on campus with social distancing measures and all). Most of my anxiety is over not being able to make friends. I'm a very introverted person and usually wait on someone else to initiate the conversation.
2) What are some things that you need to get together before school starts again? Whenever I have to leave my dorm room, I start thinking of everything that could go wrong. Things like "I swiped my ID wrong and the people behind me are impatient" or "I'm going to say something stupid and embarass myself." I wish I could approach a situation and not think it'll become a catastrophe.
3) What makes you laugh the hardest? My dad's jokes
@ClioMuse02
Hi Clio <3 Ah I see, I understand why it can be really stressful to go back to school on campus this upcoming fall!! I'm really sorry that you're feeling that stress but it is 100% valid and I imagine it must be really hard to think about socialization especially when you seem really introverted. Being introverted is okay and there's nothing wrong with that and I hope you will find some safe ways to make new friends and I know you'll figure it out and be alright 🥺I can totally relate to being really afraid of things that go wrong and it's really hard to discipline our minds to be okay with small mistakes and to stay present to prevent those catastrophic thoughts from coming in. I don't blame you for them though, they're easy traps to fall into and I 100% empathize with that!
I'm 33, and I've decided to go back to school and get a Diploma. I've registered for the Program, and I received the acceptance email this afternoon. I saw the email at work, and I did a little celebration in the change room. Luckily, no one was there changing. I've just accepted and confirmed that I would like to start classes in September. I'm so excited, although I know that the courses will be offered online. Which is even better for me, I can keep working and study on my own time. To get this Diploma is the first step of my original dream job. So, knowing what my end goal is, I think I'll do well.
Thinking back, I think I know why I never did well in school (grades 6 - 12). Back then, I didn't have a purpose, there wasn't any meaning to go to class and study the subjects. I currently work at a local hospital, I took a Certificate Program in 2018 to be working in the position I am in now. Back then, I made a huge decision, changing my career. I used to work at Walmart (for almost 4 years). Back then, I thought of this as my lifelong career, that I'd be doing this until I retire, as I heard that if I've worked at least 25 years as Full-Time employee, the pension is decent during retirement. So, I had thought that this is what I'd do until I retire.
This COVID situation, had me thinking about my rightful path in life. I've come to realize that before I was introduced to this current position, I had another dream job that I had set aside because I was too afraid to take that first step. In the past couple of weeks, I did a lot of research on how I could be doing that dream job. I've come to find out that in order to get a working visa for that country, I'll need to have at least a Diploma or Degree plus a certain Certification Program. At this age, and my past experiences in Universities, I've decided to pursue a Diploma. So, I've searched in several Colleges to see what I'll be interested in doing. Then, I found one called Asian Studies. I looked at the courses within the program, and decided that this is doable for me. The overview of the program described that many Asian-Canadians take the Program and find it interesting. So, I think that this would be a good Diploma choice for me. Next thing I know, I've applied to the College, paid for the registration fee, got accepted. Now, I'm waiting to them to confirm my acceptance, and hopefully I can start registering for some courses in the morning tomorrow.
I'm very excited! I can't believe I'm actually doing this! I've never thought I'd be going back to school, and for a Diploma. It's good to have motivation, and setting a goal as to what I want out of this Diploma, that way, I find that I tend to do better in class. I remember I once I had redo a Math course a few years ago, as a prerequisite. I'm horrible at Math, I failed Grade 12 math twice, and passed it on the third try with 51%. I think the teacher just felt sorry for me in failing so many times, and rewarded me with effort as I really tried for the third time. When I did that Math course at a local College, I was surprised, I actually did quite well. So, being that it was a prerequisite to the Certificate Program, I put more effort into it. At that point, I knew that as long as I'm focused on the end goal, I'll do well. So, for this Diploma, I will only think about doing my Dream Job after these 2 years, and I should be fine. I'm just hoping that I can continue to work at the Hospital as I study. Even if it means that I might need to give up one of my positions (I'm currently working under two different departments, they're linked, but the working hours are different and the kind of work is different too).
Sorry for talking too much, I'm too excited for my next chapter in life and I have no where else to share my excitement!~
@Jaeteuk
Hello hello!! Wow- I'm really speechless and reading your story today gave me a lot of joy and set my morning off to a good start. You have no idea how inspirational you are to continue with your education and persevere through all of your past doubts and your past! Of course, thank you for sharing with all of us your amazing story and it was really great to hear how excited you were to start this new journey for you and I'm so excited for you as well!! You're going to do great things and I'm proud of you for taking this next step in your life to do more good and continue doing more good for the world. I have full faith in you that you'll get your dream job and achieve anything that you want to do because you seem to have it in you to put real effort into it :) <3 Take care and thank you again for lighting up my day!