My Story: Adapting to Pandemic Education

I began school in 2019 as a fourth-grader with many high hopes for the year ahead. School was a wonderful place until, suddenly, everything changed in March 2020, and all of our normalcy was stripped away.

Remote learning was horrible— we had no socialization with classmates or friends. In fact, when our school first closed, the only instruction was one weekly Zoom call to ask how everyone was doing and play Bingo. We were put in an impossible situation to sit at home and do the provided worksheets on our own.

Difficulty of Remote & Hybrid Learning

I was ten years old at the time, and still remote learning was a challenge for me and my family. We had no idea what was happening, and overnight, parents had to take on the roles of teachers, which many were not able to do. I can only imagine how much more difficult remote learning was for families of multiple children or younger children.

Even when schools were reopened in September 2020, there were still many pitfalls. Students only went to school for a few days a week, and they had one in person teacher and a different teacher for remote learning days. There was no stability, especially knowing that an in-person class could get quarantined at any moment if someone tested positive.

On top of it all, students had to wear masks, even during gym class, which ended up being the main factor for my decision to continue remote learning for fifth grade (my senior year at elementary school). Wearing a mask for eight hours a day was simply too much for me to handle.

Longer-term Impact on Students

Remote learning during fifth grade was the absolute opposite of fourth grade. We were constantly on Zoom for hours a day, and this resulted in way too much screen time. Learning became exhausting. And to top it all off, the graduating class was stripped of the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to have a graduation and celebrate our accomplishments after six years of elementary school.

Our ‘graduation’ was a pre-recorded video on Zoom where we couldn’t even see the faces of our fellow graduates. In 2020, when we knew little about the virus and it was spreading rapidly, a Zoom graduation would have been justified, but not in 2021, when the situation had largely improved.

We were told that all of this was done for our safety, yet when hundreds of kids with their parents were packed underneath a relatively small canopy receiving yearbooks during pouring rain, that was considered alright because it was after school hours. Same students, parents, teachers, and administrators— but once the Cinderella clock strikes twelve, the COVID danger spell wears off.

Silver Lining: Discovery of a Passion

As terrible as the situation was, I was able to take lemons and make lemonade. During remote learning, the material was dumbed down so much that I finished it quickly. There were hours in between Zoom classes during which you were supposed to complete your assignments.

So having finished fast with lots of free time on my hands, I was able to expand on a school writing assignment, making it longer than it needed to be. And when the story got great feedback, I knew from then on that I had a passion and talent for writing.

Fly Me to the Moon and Other Stories

In July 2021, my dream of becoming an author came true, and three assignments-turned-short stories became my first book: Fly Me to the Moon and Other Stories. This self-illustrated book is a compilation of stories about a science-fiction space adventure, a self-invented Greek myth, and a bank robbery.

I am glad that I didn’t waste the free time I had and took the opportunity to follow my dream. I would have never expected that something good could ever come out of the lockdowns, but it did. I wanted to inspire others to follow their passions and always look at the silver lining of things. To spread this positive story, an article about my book was published in the Queens Chronicle.

Return to the Classroom & Ongoing Challenges

At last, for the first time in years, I was finally back in the classroom on the first day of sixth grade. However, there were so many senseless policies in place. In the classroom, we would sit in rows three feet apart. But the moment we stepped into the hallways to switch classes, the ‘social distancing’ disappeared, and thousands of kids were breathing down each other’s necks.

Even better, during lunch time, all of the students could only sit on one side of the table, supposedly so that if one coughed or sneezed, it wouldn’t land on the person sitting across from you. In theory, this sounds great─if everyone just ate their lunch like robots and carried on to their next class. What this irrational policy didn’t account for is that friends would sit next to each other, and turn their heads to chat! In fact, we were sitting closer to each other than we would have if separated by the width of the table.

With half the cafeteria seats out of use, half of the lunch period students had to go outside and then switch with the students inside, which wouldn’t be an issue if we lived in Florida. But with so many days that were above the 32°F cutoff for outdoor recess, it was still too cold for many students who were forced to be outdoors in the winter.

No Preparation for Middle School

Aside from being left with the remnants of COVID policies dictated to schools from above, we were simply not prepared for the difficulty of middle school. Elementary school was very simplistic and primitive, and the standards got even lower during COVID when we would spend half our class time in fifth grade discussing things like our favorite color.

In sixth grade, the teachers did their best to ease us back in and make up for the learning losses, but even so, there was too much emphasis on social emotional learning, which got very repetitive, especially at the start of the school year, when we would do the same getting-to-know-you activities in five different classes for a whole month.

Then, in seventh grade as we are getting closer and closer to high school and Regents exams, all the accumulated pressure that should have been spread out over the past seven years of school, came falling down on us like an avalanche.

With multiple tests and projects a week, sometimes even on the same day, seventh grade just kicked the door down when we were not expecting it in the slightest. Had the workload and expectations been a gradual increase since elementary school, the sudden bombardment wouldn’t feel so overwhelming.

“Instead of first oiling the pan and then gradually turning up the heat on the stove, 7th grade turned it up to the maximum to prepare us for high school, leaving many of the students burnt.”

— Kristina

A Change in Curriculum and Demotion of Merit

Another issue that is prevalent in not just my school, but in schools across the city, is the agenda-driven books and curriculum with little literary value. They were instead focused on politically-driven issues such as immigration and the environment as well as heavy topics such as the Holocaust, war in South Sudan, 9/11, and war in Afghanistan.

Perhaps these books would have been more appropriate if they were more spread out and at an older age, but at the young age of 11 and 12, with these books being assigned one after another, it left a big emotional scar on many students.

Throughout my eight years of school, it has become clear to me that there is a lack of emphasis on merit. Whether it be screened middle and high schools not considering the state tests as admissions criteria anymore and instead turning admissions into a lottery; turning Gifted and Talented admissions into a lottery; or the dumbing down of material and standards - merit is not being appreciated or valued as it once was.

My Second Book and Future Ambitions

All of my accumulated concerns about education, as well as the overall direction of the country, led me to publish my second book, A Sheep’s Tale - Young Patriot’s Guide to Saving America, in 2022. The book consists of two stories, one laying out the issues America is facing and the second suggesting a solution.

Set in 1928 USSR, the first story follows the life of an immigrant family who narrowly escapes to America, and lives through various historical events up until present day, drawing concerning parallels between America and the USSR. And the second story, set in modern-day Memphis, Tennessee, follows a courageous young woman who runs for mayor to save her city.

The book was very well-received, especially among immigrant communities; and was covered in the Chinese newspaper, Sing Tao Daily.

Looking Toward the Future

Currently, I am working on a third book about the American Revolution and the Culper Spy Ring, a little-known spy network that helped America gain its independence.

“My ambition is to help save America before it is forever gone as we know it. I plan on running for political office when I am old enough and I hope to inspire others to stand up for our country in whatever way they can.”