School of Thought: (Un)Traditional
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STUDENT INTRO: Parkersburg South High School sophomore Miley Morris brings us this week's piece that allows a glimpse into her life as a Wood County Schools virtual student. Miley, an avid reader and writer enjoys non-fiction, specifically memoirs. When Miley isn't immersed in a good book, she enjoys volunteering and fostering pets from the Parkersburg Humane Society.
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As a kid in elementary, I always enjoyed going to school. I loved the early morning drives, the before-school socializing with my friends, and the classroom full of fun activities and reading. As I got older, however, I began to struggle drastically with my mental health, resulting in a lack of motivation to attend and enjoy school. Earlier this year, my family and I made the decision for me to switch to virtual school. I'm incredibly grateful for this shift, as it has allowed so many new and previously unavailable opportunities.
Alternative forms of schooling have been around since the late 80s, but only recently with the pandemic have they hit an all-time high as many students were forced to gain their education via Zoom or Teams meetings. Pictured on various social media platforms, which were rampant with virtual school attendees at the time, were many students complaining about the workload, the lack of distinct direction, the impossible deadlines that virtual school had seemingly condemned them to. This created many negative conceptions of virtual school, which steered me away from the idea at first. However, after trying my luck with it at the start of February, I was able to separate a lot of these misconceptions about virtual school from the reality of this schooling format.
Going the virtual school route has been, by far, the best schooling decision I have ever made. Typically, my week begins on Monday, where I check out my assignments for the week and begin working. Being able to see my workload from the start of the week and work at my own pace up to the deadline has taken away a lot of the stress I previously had in attending physical school every day and not knowing what assignments I'd have throughout the week. Having such a fluid schedule has given me the chance to take needed breaks as to not overwhelm myself, and even with the breaks I take, I typically finish my week's work around half-way through the week. Being able to finish early each week has given me extra free time I didn't previously get with my 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. in-person schedule. This more flexible schedule has also allowed me free time for my own endeavors, such as becoming an avid guitar player, trying my hand at making sourdough, various baking adventures -- some good, but most, bad -- and even getting back into writing, which has always been a source of comfort for me.
One common misconception I hear often is that virtual school closes the door on many social opportunities that you would get from traditional school. While I can't argue that you will not be interacting with nearly as many peers as you would while doing in-person school, you would still be interacting with both teachers and peers through the weekly meetings hosted for each course and attended by a small crowd of fellow online students. However, with the excess of free time I have gained by doing virtual school, I was able to immerse myself in community activity to make up for this. I signed up early for my school's debate team, I put in a job application at a local business, I volunteer at the local Humane Society and foster animals, and was even able to teach myself sign language and guitar. Although I am not necessarily socializing with peers, I am still learning many worthwhile skills and teaching myself new things every day, alongside learning many valuable things from my online schooling.
Learning will never look the same for two different students. Although virtual school may not be for everyone, it has been a great journey for me, and something I urge anyone thinking about making the switch to at least look into. Both traditional and alternative schooling have their many upsides and downsides, but both forms of school ultimately teach the same information in different formats. At the end of the day, education is essential in every way shape, and form.