We Study: Together

During their encounter with remote learning, seniors Kendall France and Stella Uriarte collaborate to complete their school work Thursday, Feb. 18. Amidst the pandemic, the district shifted learning models several times. 

When the district transitioned to 100% remote learning in December, France found the change interrupted her previous school rhythm. 

“I’m not going to lie, I did most of my Zoom meetings in bed,” France said.  “I was unmotivated. I put my computer on my wall, and I would just go back to bed, or just lay down on TikTok.”

In agreement with France, Uriarte describes the struggles she faced in learning remotely at home. 

“Second quarter was the worst because I would just be in bed and I didn’t really learn anything. I just did everything to get by,” Uriarte said. “I would either do my Zoom meetings in my kitchen or in bed because I have a desk in my room.”

The two seniors decided to begin working together and attend Zoom classes from the same remote location. France believes this helped with their motivation problem. 

“We would obviously want to do things other than just school, so having each other there and having the same classes helped us

hold each other accountable for getting our work done, and it allowed us to to do other fun things,” France said. 

While both girls struggled with the lack of social encounters that accompanied remote learning, Uriarte believes working together made school easier. 

“We chose to do remote learning together because we’re best friends,” Uriarte said. “We thought we might as well try to enjoy school together if we’re both at home.”

With the flexibility of not being in the building, France and Uriarte found that leaving their homes helped them maintain a routine. Coffee shops were their location of choice, according to France.

“I would say, coffee shops actually kind of made me productive, France said.  “It’s very quiet and other people around me are trying to work, so I couldn’t be loud and do whatever I wanted like I could at home. So it helped me socialize but also still work.” 

For France, working with Uriarte did not only help with the social aspects, but it helped her maintain a routine. 

“I found that any environment where I’d have to be up, and not able to be fully comfortable and lay down and be able to be tired was the ideal learning space,” France said. “Plus, getting up and getting ready really helped me actually start my day.”

Although the two were mainly successful through their studies together, Uriarte believed there were some distractions in learning remotely together. 

“I would say there were definitely downsides because I would get distracted a lot, just because I was with my friend and we would make pound cake or TikToks,” Uriarte said. “ We missed a few lessons. But at the end of the day, we still have good grades in addition to good memories.”