Chloe Marton is currently a senior at Sunlake High School. In normal times, senior year is supposed to be one of the best experiences in somebody’s life. It’s the time to make memories that will stay with you for the rest of your life, but during the times of the COVID-19 pandemic, she finds herself staying at home, participating in the remote online learning method. In similarity for many students doing online learning, Chloe says that her biggest challenge is “staying focused because it’s easy to stop paying attention to your computer”. Chloe is not the only one doing online in her household, as her younger brother, Ethan, is also staying home. She says that another challenge of working online is that she “can’t entirely control the other people in my house who are also very distracting.”

As most of Chloe’s friends are doing in-person learning, she explains how one of the things she misses the most about being in school is “getting to talk to people who I wouldn’t normally see everyday and being able to see my friends in the hall.” Whether it’s participating in class or socializing with her friends, Marton is a very active person when she is on campus, so having to stay home has been a big difference for her. One of the most significant changes in Chloe’s life is not just her change to online school, but also what she does after school. She says that she is starting to “get away from a screen after school since I have to sit on a computer all day.” Marton spends a lot of her afternoon and evening hanging out with her siblings and playing soccer in the backyard.

One of the benefits Chloe has experienced since doing online learning is that she doesn’t see a big difference in her learning habits. When asked about any difference she notices from being online, Marton says, “Honestly, online and being in school seem about the same to me. I sit and watch a lecture and then do the work assigned with it.”

“I feel like it’d be the same either way.”

The only thing Marton hopes as she moves through the year is that teachers give students more time to ask questions or participate. She also describes how it can be hard at times to hear other students in the class who are participating in discussions. As Chloe is starting to get used to her new school setting, she takes a moment to thank her teachers who are also adapting to this style of learning. “I think under the circumstances, they’re all handling it the best they can. They’re doing a lot for us.”