“Present po,” I said, sipping coffee, willing myself to stay awake. I stayed up editing a video for an assignment due at 11:59 today. I had four classes this morning, four more hours of staring at a screen, confirming my presence and begging my group mates to finish their parts for the project. This was my everyday routine last year.

Like most students in the Philippines, I attended online school for academic year 2020-2021. I went from seeing my friends every day to counting the days since I last saw a fellow human being. I also just moved from a small school of 200 students total to one with more than 300 students in my batch. Needless to say, it was a struggle.

Monotony

I wasn’t struggling with the lessons or the pace, I even managed straight As, however, I couldn’t stand the monotony. It was hard for me to sit still and watch lectures for hours, knowing that I could learn faster on my own.

By December, I was searching the web for alternatives to online classes and home-schooling struck me best. I wrote my mom a three-page letter, explaining the problems I had with online school and addressing concerns she had about home-schooling.

Fast forward to a couple of family discussions, my parents and I agreed—if there was no announcement for face-to-face classes, I would be home-schooling for AY 2021-2022. When my school announced online classes, I was ecstatic, ready to have a change in the routine I’ve had since June of 2020.

I finally started home-schooling at Homeschool Global in June 2021. The start of the year went great. My assignments were submitted early, and I managed 95-98 in some of my classes. This bliss didn’t last long though. After a weeklong trip to Boracay, I came home to 10 overdue assignments. To make things worse, I hadn’t made a single home-schooling friend yet.I woke up late, started school late, and got almost nothing accomplished. I was overwhelmed by my overdue assignments but did nothing about it. I thought I had made a mistake by home-schooling.

Writing club

Everything changed when I found out about the school’s writing club. The club had a study group of five students, who eventually became my best friends. We spent hours chatting about everything from books to Taylor Swift’s new album. We even expanded our study group by opening it to anyone in our school. For the first time in months, I was happy with my social life.My school situation also got better. I started waking up earlier, allowing for more study time. I accomplished more and did better following strategies shared by my friends. Though I still have overdue assignments, I feel less burned out and overwhelmed.

Home-schooling was an option I wouldn’t have had a chance of doing before the pandemic, but it’s proving to be one of my best decisions. The lessons truly go deep into the subjects, adding in all the details. I’ve learned probably twice as much this year. I’ve also learned time management as I have to construct my schedule, lesson plans and hold myself accountable for the tasks I have to complete each day.

Though I’ll go back to traditional school once online classes are over and the world is less infectious, I will be forever grateful for the friends I’ve made and the lessons I’ve learned through home-schooling.

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The author is a Grade 8 student at Homeschool Global.