Gryphon Gazette

The student news site of Animo Pat Brown Charter High School

The student news site of Animo Pat Brown Charter High School

Gryphon Gazette

The student news site of Animo Pat Brown Charter High School

Gryphon Gazette

Covid’s Role in Online Learning

COVID-19 has been around for a while now and with being back in school and tuition costs, it has become difficult for students to be, well, students without the added stress.

Written by Moises Negrete, Jared Meza, and Naydelin Hernandez

Over the course of a couple of months, Covid-19 has intensified the struggles that college students and high school students already face, with the start of a new school year through online classes, financial struggles and upcoming college applications.

Many college students and parents are upset that tuition isn’t being discounted and is being paid at full average tuition cost. Colleges such as UC’s tuition go up to fourteen thousand dollars and tuition for Cal States go up to eight to ten thousand dollars. Many students may face financial issues because of the unemployment rate in the U.S. This makes it difficult for many college students to pay off their tuition without a reduced tuition.


UCLA student, Shaya Naimi, taking online classes at the beginning of the pandemic, in the midst of a empty UCLA campus (Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

However, as much as students are upset about not getting the learning experience they paid for, they have to consider the health risks of in person learning and being back on campus. In his article, “The Psychology behind why some college students break Covid-19 rules”, CNN associate writer Scottie Andrew said “There’s some truth to the teenage stereotype of risk taking. “Young adults are more prone to make in-the-moment decisions because they’re wired that way.” Due to the lack of self-discipline and risk-taking tendencies of some adolescents, it is best to avoid any risk of exposure to COVID-19 that can be found on school environments.

For every student, online learning has its ups and downs. For some, the disadvantages of online learning have seemed more prevalent because of the pandemic.

Brisamar Hernandez, who attends Hobart And William Smith Colleges, says, “I had hoped I wouldn’t have had to go back to school in New York because it was announced that classes were going to be online, but either way, I look forward to coming back home to Los Angeles for winter break.” Since it was a requirement for her to move back to New York for college, it can get lonely moving back after having spent almost half a year with family. She believes the transition to be a lot to handle and with her living across the country, she has almost no idea of what is truly happening back home.

The toll the pandemic can have on familial matters can be seen through Brisamar’s experience, and when it comes to academics, it can also be extremely frustrating. For high school seniors, their last year in high school is being spent on online classes. On top of that, college applications are due soon.

UC and CSU applications have recently opened up again as it is college application season. Current high school senior, Marilyn Lemus is going through the process of applying for college. Lemus said, “I think that being in quarantine and doing online learning this semester has made the college application process more stressful than it should be because I now stress at home about school related matters, which should be a place where I can sleep and relax. It is getting hard to separate work from home.”

High school students are under a lot of pressure. Academics are no joke, and from the looks of it, it seems that things will not resolve for a while.


Animated image of student in online classes (Michigan Virtual)

 

This will all go down in history for students. Everyone can learn from this experience. And while school will not be the same for a while, all anyone can do is wait and hope for good news.

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    Samira FarahFeb 8, 2021 at 10:58 AM

    Hello Ms. Hernandez,

    My name is Samira Farah from the University of Oregon, and I work for the student voice, a publication that showcases student journalism work. We’d like to request permission to repost the article “Covid’s Role in Online Learning” by Naydelin Hernandez on our website!

    Here is a link to our page:
    https://studentvoicenow.org/

    Thank you!

    Best,
    Samira Farah

    Reply
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