Student Perspectives: Homeschooling During COVID-19, Lucas Byun
February 9, 2021
By Lucas Byun, 10th Grade
2020 has been an unexpectedly hectic year with the new found coronavirus negatively affecting the globe and hitting America especially hard. Accompanied by legal restrictions across the nation, the virus completely changed many people’s way of life in and out of the home. I think that I can speak for everyone that this new experience at first was not a pleasant one. The government in an attempt to contain this pandemic put invisible barriers on what citizens could do regarding social events. Distant family, friends, classmates, co-workers, which we all admittedly took for granted, were suddenly gone. In life before the pandemic struck nobody would believe something like this would happen, but when it did, we all took a hit in noticing the absence of people.
A major impact in all students’ lives especially, was when schooling went virtual instead of in person. At Granite, flexible adjustments were created to see our friends at classes for some time which many, including myself enjoyed for some time. However, when times got worse Granite was forced to switch back to fully online and people once again felt that absence of community. Despite all these changes one thing stayed the same: our community’s care. Over the course of the year of Covid, many new faces showed up enlarging the caring Granite community. Although we could not embrace one another and talk face to face, we could still see each other through a screen, which is something to be thankful for. While sometimes blurry and slow, we held class, discussed academic topics, and enjoyed each other’s company.
Despite these things, the pandemic obviously was not just a way for us to do schooling in the comfort of our homes, but it also negatively affected many families that I know, including some at Granite. I cannot neglect the fact that Covid took many people away to a better place. The sickness caused anxiety and long suffering, maybe not for one’s self, but for a loved one which could hurt emotionally as much as it did the victim physically.
If we were to focus on the bad, we would be hindering our view of the good that also came from Corona. I think that the most significant change in life for me, was the change in tempo. But as said before, we cannot focus on the bad, but on the good. I found that I had more time to spend with the people that care about me most; my family. Many families, including mine were caught up in their individual activities like school, sports, and extracurricular activities so not much time was made for our family to be together. Corona however, opened a new door, and allowed me to spend enjoyable time with my family as well as many others at Granite. In spite of all these crazy occurrences God had his hand over us the entire time. I saw heroes being created by God. Nurses, doctors, policemen, etc. sacrificed their safety to help others infected by the virus. God also brought family back together. He strengthened our relationships through all this. I feel like God let this pandemic to occur, obviously not to let his children suffer, but to remind us that He is in control and that he loves us now and always.
The impact of Corona will surely be one to remember, and hopefully when I look back on the days where I was cooped up at home with my fam, I could remember it as a blessing that God gave many. I hope to look back on this time, and smile. For those families who were not as lucky as I was, I hope that God heals your emotional wounds, and that the members that were lost, will rest in peace with God in heaven.