Carlos Chancay

In 2020, Covid-19 caused students all over the world to be quarantined and to learn online became the students only source of education.
Several Mountaineers have reported that the workload has increased in difficulty since quarantine, specifically when it comes to studying.
“It [school work] is the same work as it had been before Covid. But assignments take so much longer. It’s far more overwhelming. I can’t seem to focus,” said senior Elise Kennedy.
Sophomore Fortune Mchenga agreed that avoiding distractions has become increasingly difficult.
“Once we got back to school it wasn’t easy work anymore. Lessons were suddenly much harder. I couldn’t focus, and even if I could, I don’t think I would be able to motivate myself to do the work, if I get any time to,” said Mchenga.
Sophomore Emily Stock agreed that post-Covid students have less time to study.
“I barely even have time unless in class, finding time has been so difficult. I do clubs and other homework already,” said Stock.
Other Mountaineers agreed that studying has changed over time.
“People may have studied before, but now very few do. Throughout the shutdown, we were never really given real work,” said junior London Aghasoltan.
Reichart said she could explain the seemingly easier assignments.
“[Teachers] were told to be compassionate. We had to grade much less harshly, which led to an increase in grades,” said Reichart. “But as soon as we started grading normally, grades plummeted. Students had no will to work.”
Senior Jewel Dolat said that she found social issues and personal struggles affected her motivation to study during online schooling, causing her lack of effort.
“The pandemic was easily my lowest point. Burning out and losing the mental drive to work after the pandemic should have taken months, but took seconds,” said Dolat.
Pratt said he also saw a change in the students’ behavior and motivation after the pandemic.
“Behaviorally, I think the student body has been set about a year back. Losing almost the whole year of 2020 changed not only students’ drive, but maturity as well,” said Pratt.
Even two years later several students said they found themselves taken aback regarding the workload high school would bring.
“We were so unprepared. I came here knowing nothing about what high school would be like. It’s far more work than I could have expected,” said freshman Savannah Patterson.
Freshman Lexi Scharf, an avid studier, shared her reasons for her dedication.
“I’m so worried I’m going to disappoint people. I study for hours in hopes of making my family happy,” said Scharf.
Patterson said she aims for a bright future.
“I study to pass grades, getting into a good college is important to me,” Patterson said.
Each student has their own reasons to undertake studying; oftentimes students develop habits to maintain a consistent study schedule.
Principal Michael Pratt shared how he studied, drawing a parallel between his habits and the current student tactics.
“I like using old school methods, like outlining and highlighting passages, but people don’t really do that anymore. It depends on the learning style of each person,” said Pratt.
Reichart said she also had favorite methods of studying.
“I studied a lot in college especially for the classes I found to be the most difficult. Flashcards work well for me, but word association has worked well for me,” said Reichart, however these days I have seen a lot of more modern tactics, like quizlets,”
Even though students prepare in different ways, one thing remains.
“While methods of studying have changed since covid, putting in effort is still at the core,” said Pratt.