This August, We are Navigating School amidst Coronavirus

Hey Zoomers,

It’s been almost five months since we’ve gone into quarantine, and it seems like the government doesn’t really have a plan to contain the virus. How is it possible that the world has changed so much and so little at the same time? Everything is opening up yet cases are still rising in huge numbers.

We are trying to go back into our old lives without really going back if that makes sense. The Department of Education even played around with the idea of resuming physical classes, not knowing how it’s a kid apocalypse waiting to happen. But the reality for most of us Filipino students is that we are entering uncharted waters as we enter a new school year.

What’s new this school year?

Some already got a taste of what online classes were like when schools didn’t realize how heavily the pandemic weighed on students’ minds and pockets. This time though, schools are more prepared for the battle ahead.

But with every battle comes unexpected tribulations and setbacks that we just can’t prepare for.

On Twitter, we are already seeing a lot of students ask for donations with the hashtag, #PisoParaSaLaptop. As the name suggests, they are simply requesting generous users to spare them even just one peso for the purpose of buying a laptop. It’s unfortunate that not everyone can afford something that should be a basic need in pandemics like these. And even if they do have one, there’s still the problem of poor internet connection in the entire country.

Online classes are not a walk in the park especially when you’re already disadvantaged in the first place.

Aside from that, businesses are closing down left and right, while people are still dying at the hands of coronavirus. If you were a student whose family was directly affected by this, could you imagine how tough it would be to continue online classes?

What are we sacrificing?

Every student is probably having anxiety or some internal squabble about the upcoming school year. I mean, it is going to be super different without a doubt. Simply going through the motions of online classes is not exciting.

Young people should be out and about, exploring the world with their friends and discovering themselves.

It’s difficult to do that when you’re stuck in the confines of your own home. The best memories I have of school do not involve going online to answer tests and listen to lectures. They involve interaction with people I consider home and spontaneous moments that just can’t be replicated through a screen. Sharing contagious laughter and giving someone comfort are things that stick with you because of the physical touch.

The clinking of beers, the sound of basic trap music blaring in college bars, the sound of the bell ringing to signal the end of the day…

To the zoomer who’s going to enter online classes, you deserve to be angry. You deserve to feel robbed. This whole “I attended school during the pandemic” story is going to be a killer story when we’re older, but let’s be real: this situation sucks.

However, there is definitely an opportunity to make timeless memories during these times. But even if we do make the best-tasting lemonade out of the sourest lemons that life has given us, the fact is: we didn’t want lemonade in the first place.

If we could trade back all the problems that we encountered pre-COVID, we would do it in a heartbeat!

What now?

In short: this school year is gonna be difficult. It might be harder, it might not be. What it is gonna be though, is different. And if you’re feeling a bit positive, you might even say unique.

Online classes are gonna present new challenges that we will help you with here in Zoomers Corner. You are not alone in experiencing this unusual and unfamiliar situation.

That said, there are gonna be problems and events all of us have never come across before… things that have to be documented and talked about. We’re here to experience these together and tell others how it really feels like to be a zoomer during this time. No one can write our history better than ourselves.

School has always been important in one’s education and personal growth. With that said, it’s important to recount how such a drastic change in our “second home” will shape who we are and who we become.

We’re here with you, zoomers.

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Featured Image: Christina Morillo on Pexels