On March 23, Governor Ralph Northam declared that K-12 schools would be closed in response to the Coronavirus outbreak, because of this, the school system’s new online learning platform took effect. 

 With online learning, school work ethic is bound to change. 

“Quarantine has worsened my work ethic, mostly because of how different everything is scheduled,” said Godwin sophomore Justin Winterson. 

For some, it is easy to become preoccupied with being quarantined in a house full of distractions. 

“Yes, I have gotten distracted many times. When assignments aren’t interesting I tend to put my mind to something else,” said Godwin junior Katie Day. 

However, some students are thriving under the new online learning system. Godwin freshman Caleb Jones says that he does not get easily distracted despite working from home. 

Jones, like other students, has taken to setting a schedule for their work. 

“I complete one lesson daily,” said Jones. 

Though some students have found success in making a schedule that works for them, others say their schedules are hard to follow. 

“Yes, I have a personal built-in schedule, though admittedly it could be better,” said Winterson. 

With new learning also comes new struggles with understanding exactly what is expected on assignments. 

“I struggled on an English assignment for the past two hours before understanding the complicated directions,” said Day 

Along with confusing directions, there is also the issue of increased procrastination amongst students. 

“I usually wait until the last minute to complete assignments; often a day before they’re due,” said Winterson. 

With online learning, there is the advantage of students choosing the order in which to do their classes. With no assigned schedule to follow they can do classes when it best works for them.

“I try to focus on the easy stuff before doing the hard. Culinary is something I start with first because it’s easy and I don’t have so many assignments like all of my other classes,” said Day 

“I’m actually pretty excited to go back to school. Being stuck at home is making me go nuts. Seeing friends and school is what I’m mostly looking forward to. So in a simple answer yes, I’m excited to go back to school,” said Day