By Samiyah Cistrunk, student
Black Hawk Middle School

My name is Samiyah Cistrunk and I am 13 years old. I go to Black Hawk Middle School and am in the seventh grade. 

These times are very unusual. The pandemic has affected a lot of things, including school. When the pandemic first started and I heard about how everyone is going to attend virtual school, I was kind of excited because I finally got to stay home. I thought virtual school would not last long. 

I was excited to get a break from everyone and just relax. I figured I wouldn’t have to worry about a lot of things, but right now I feel like virtual school is hard because they give me a lot of work and understanding the work can be difficult and the homework is very different.

When I went to school in person, the work was much easier to understand and I also had the teacher giving one-on-one help. Although they do it now, it can be frustrating because it takes a while for the teachers to get back to me.

In some ways, virtual school is no different than in-person school because the schedule is the same and we have to wake up early. That is the hard part for me. I tend to go to sleep late and then I am tired in the morning. The good thing about virtual school is that I get to be on my Chromebook. It helps me to be more organized.

I miss a lot of things about in-person school. I miss socializing with my friends and having afterschool activities. When I’m in the house a lot, I can’t do the things I used to before COVID-19, and I miss being around people at school.

Hopefully, soon everything goes back to normal a little bit, but for now I am going to stay distanced and wear my mask.