While the world continues to quarantine and social distance, so does their youngest generation. Inside their rooms, tapping the keys on chromebooks and scribbling down notes on scrap paper, virtual students continue to work just like their peers, only locked away from their once social school life. 

At the beginning of the year, students were hopeful as they signed up to become virtual learners. The prospects of learning in the comfort of their home was almost unimaginable, but it quickly turned sour. 

“I felt excited for virtual learning,” Sophomore Maheen Hassan said in an email. “But then my grades got worse.”

A struggle for a lot of virtual students was motivation. According to a Youthtruthsurvey, 59 percent of the reported 20,000 students had trouble motivating themselves to do their schoolwork, with 50 percent saying feelings such as depression or anxiety also contributed. Student’s also had access to social media and other virtual worlds just a hand reach away. In the midst of a pandemic, students were troubled with anxiety and depression, combined with their lack of motivation, it made their school work seemingly become more and more optional. 

“It was definitely harder for me to find motivation when I’m stuck at home all day,” Sophomore McKenzie Rice said in an email.

It was also harder for students to connect with their classmates through extracurricular activities and clubs. Some students had no way to access these clubs, or had trouble keeping up with them, separated by miles. 

“I wasn’t able to get to them as easily,” Rice said in an email, “I don’t have a car or any other way of transportation.” 

Despite the struggles some virtual students went through, they found some positives in virtual learning.

“I liked virtual learning because I could sleep in and had more time to play video games since I worked at my own pace,” Sophomore Jacob Pahayo said in an email. 

Virtual learning is currently not available for the upcoming school year. As COVID numbers dwindle and mandates lift, there are hopeful odds for normalcy.