There is so much chatter among students and parents about schools opening in the fall.. Would it be the best thing to do though? “Opening of schools and colleges in the fall is possible, based on the availability of widespread testing, implementing sound hygiene and social distancing practices…,” according to EdSource’s Louis Freedberg.  According to The Los Angeles Times there are now 79,926 known cases here in California as of May 17th and 3,240 people are dead. Online schooling not only changed the way students learn but gave them challenges.

First off, online learning affects mostly everyone but in different ways. Esmeralda Gonzalez, a student at MACES said, “I would get all my assignments done right away. But once online learning happened, I began to notice I procrastinate on my work a lot.” Procrastination is a major problem students face when taking classes online. A poll was given to 33 students stating if they procrastinate their online school, 80% of those students said they procrastinate their online school, while 20% said they don’t. ”Online learning is also making it difficult for me to learn certain standards, especially in math [because I have] having two math classes.”

Another problem is being able to understand the classwork without having that extra help. “It’s harder to learn new things, because I don’t have my teachers with me or have my classmates to help me and I feel like the one-on-one I would get at school can’t happen anymore,” Priscilla Castro, a junior at MACES said. Students like Castro need that extra help in certain classes and because of distance learning students aren’t getting the help that they might really need. Yes, they can message their teachers, but it’s not the same.

Another problem is distractions. “One issue that is affecting me is that I’m not really focused and concentrated on my work,” Alondra Pompa said. Other students share the same problem as Pompa. Some students might watch TV while doing school work. Others might zone out while the teachers are talking. 

 Elaine Sanabria, a MACES alumni who now attends Cal State Northridge, said,

“A huge challenge that I’ve faced is learning to manage my time and my work. There isn’t much for me to do since there is a stay at home order, but sometimes the environment makes me not want to do work.“ Plenty of people can relate to this exact problem. Being home and comfy makes students want to stay that way and not do work so that makes the student slack off. 

Sanabria lived in dorms on the campus of Cal State Northridge. “I always had resources like the library to help me study, and it was always so easy to find a space where I can concentrate on my work. Now having school closed down because of COVID-19 , I don’t have the space to study.”

COVID-19 changed the lives of plenty of people. Others got more affected though. Because some got infected and others passed away because of COVID 19. Students are finding it harder to do their work while being at home. With the right time management and not giving up they can complete this semester perfectly fine.