4 Transfer Requests

By Ashlyn Carias-Hernandez

It was May 1, 2020, when my mom decided we had to move to another state. The event that led up to this decision was that my mom started to feel unsafe in her job. She was working as a childcare worker for a family of doctors at the time. We had not yet reached the peak of the pandemic in which we had a lockdown, everything was new and no one really knew anything about the virus; this is what scared my mom the most. During this time, in the beginning of the pandemic, she was afraid that one day she could bring the virus home, which led her to quit her job. My mom wasn’t the only one feeling unsafe, as students and other workers felt at risk to get the virus. Because many people lost their jobs due to the pandemic, they started having economic problems. My mom had lost her job, as the major source of income, so we were having financial problems. She lost her job because of her fear of the pandemic. We were short of money for rent, food, and bills. My mom started getting worried about what we were going to do to gather enough money to pay for everything. She started telling her friends and family that she was worried about money. My auntie, who had recently moved to Tennessee, told my mom that Tennessee was nice and cheap. My mom thought “this is a wonderful opportunity for us to move.” My mom ran the idea by her boyfriend and I, and we both agreed it was a good idea. Moving to another state was going to make graduating from high school really challenging during the pandemic that caused my family to suffer economically.  

Before our moving day, May 1, we thought about our decision carefully. It was March 2020 when we started to think about moving to Tennessee, and I was still in school at this time. My mom told me that we were going to move as soon as I finished my junior year of high school. Although I had agreed to us moving, I couldn't help but think to myself “I have one more year left, how can I move right now.” We had just moved to distance learning instead of in-person classes. All I had in mind was “am I ever going to see my classmates again before I leave?” I went to the same high school for the past three years and then suddenly I was going to move on my last and final year. I had all my friends here; this was my home. San Mateo watched me grow from a baby to a woman. Most of my peers from San Mateo High School grew up together, we went to the same elementary school and middle school. I was going to miss everyone, I mean how could I not, I grew up with all these people. Not only was I going to miss my friends but my boyfriend, Luis, and my dad as well. My dad, who divorced my mom, was staying in California. Luis, one of my biggest supporters, was also staying in California with his family as well as my best friend, Elle. Because I was moving after my junior year, I was upset to be taken from the opportunity of being able to graduate with the rest of my class. I wanted to be able to walk the stage along with the rest of my classmates, class of 2021, and have my diploma handed to me in front of my parents. I wanted to experience my senior year to the fullest. I wanted to go to prom, homecoming, and all the senior activities with my friends.  

On May 1, 2020, I started my journey. My mom and I were on the road for three days. On those three days, I thought about how school would be in Tennessee: “would it be different because of the pandemic?'' I was anxious to go to school in Tennessee: “what if it’s online?” “will I make any friends?'' “will there be any senior activities?”. So much was going through my mind during these three days. The pandemic changed everything for everyone all around the world. I thought about all the tough times I would have to go through to adjust to living in a new state. I didn’t have the same support I had back at home; I didn’t have Luis, or Elle, or any of my other friends to talk to. Facetiming and texting them wasn’t the same as talking to them in person. The pandemic affected a lot of people mentally and emotionally, and my depression and anxiety got worse during this time. I felt lonely being by myself with no one to talk to. Many of my friends distanced themselves from me and I did the same. I could no longer go to school because the pandemic had made me move far away from my friends. The pandemic made me feel like I was alone. 

I was going to a state I didn’t know anyone in, I didn’t even know the state, I had never been to Tennessee. Crossing each state line, I felt closer to a fresh start but further away from home. The only way I got through the negative thoughts was by saying “everything will be ok, God has a plan set, you don’t know anyone which means this could be a fresh start.” The idea of having a fresh start was really calming for me. I could be my true self; I didn’t have to act like the person everyone grew up to “know.” 

When I got to Tennessee, I chose to take this time to work on myself. Being in Tennessee, a state that looks and feels relaxing, made me feel at peace, which encouraged me to take the time to truly know myself. I was in isolation because of the pandemic, I was alone with my own thoughts. I wanted my negative thoughts to become positive and motivational. I had so much time on my hands that working on myself felt right. I started to focus on my mental health. I learned many new things about myself personally. I learned about who I truly am on my own and around others. This was a time I learned to take care of myself. Covid made me move to another state and I chose to cope by learning about me personally. 

While I was focused on learning about myself, I stopped talking to my friends. Because I had distanced myself from most of my friends, I soon realized who my true friends were. I realized that only a few noticed that something was up, and they took time out of their day to check up on me. As soon as I realized that these friends cared about me, I started to text them more often. I think that during this pandemic, it was best to stay close and have a group of friends you can trust and lean on when times get tough. I certainly needed people to talk to, this made me feel a lot better. The combination of working on myself and talking to my friends again made me feel like I had everything under control despite the challenges the pandemic had brought into my life.  

It was mid-August when I started school in Tennessee. I had two options, either distance learning or in-person classes. I chose distance learning because I was told that there weren’t many students on campus. As a result of me not being able to log into my online courses, distance learning didn’t work out. Therefore, I decided to go to campus and take my classes in-person. I didn’t know anyone, I didn’t know my way around campus, I knew nothing about Stewarts Creek High School, in the city of Smyrna, TN. The pandemic had really affected the number of students going to school. I had a class where it was just me and the teacher while everyone else was online doing distance learning. Not only was the learning environment different during the pandemic, but it also made it harder to make friends. The classes were small and lunch time, usually a time used for socializing, was taken over by the restriction the pandemic had set all over the world. The pandemics restrictions include being 6 feet apart, wearing a mask at all times, seeking quarantine when infected, isolating yourself from others who are not from the same household, etc. I would watch friend groups sit apart because the pandemic wouldn’t allow us to be closer than 6 feet. We were not able to talk in class nor were we able to talk at lunch since we were seated so far apart. As a new student I felt isolated with no one to talk to, with no one to hang out with. Because everyone feared getting infected, they were afraid to be near each other. Thus, I then decided to switch to homeschooling. I enrolled at the American High School, a high school in Florida that offers homeschool, which was great at first. I soon realized that to be able to graduate, I was going to have to do my work a lot quicker. I talked to my mom about my concern. I said, “I’m worried I won’t be able to graduate on time,” and my mom replied, “I think you should go back to school or talk to your counselor about your concern.” After a few talks with my mom and my counselor, I decided to go back to California for the last few months of my senior year.  

In April 2021, I moved back to California. I was so excited to be back home with my dad, Luis, and Elle. The pandemic had made me jump around schools in the matter of just a few months. Because I moved, I had attended 3 different schools and 4 different systems I had to transfer from. I had 4 different transfer requests – one from San Mateo High to Stewarts Creek High distance learning, to in-person, to homeschool, and back to San Mateo High. The pandemic affected my learning during my senior year. This was all because I never felt comfortable due to the changes in the education system that the pandemic had caused. Either the system wasn’t working online or there was a small number of students in class. The learning environment was not the same when the class had 3 students compared to 30 students, which was normal before the pandemic. I am an audio-visual learner, which means I learn better when the instructional content involves sound and sight. This is relevant because teachers were starting to use online platforms to teach due to the pandemic, and this made it difficult for me to learn and comprehend everything being taught. I wanted to have a hard copy I could look at and work with physically instead of a computer screen with a bunch of words.

Jumping around from school to school was not helpful in terms of learning. My education was not the same after the pandemic. What happens when you jump from school to school is that they don’t offer the same courses, so they switch them. I had classes half done; I never really finished a class entirely. By the time I got back to San Mateo High School, I was told I might not be able to graduate. My academic counselor Mrs. Bianca, one of the academic counselors at San Mateo High School, had a conversation with me about graduation. She said, “I have faith in you, I think that if you talk to your teachers, you will be able to graduate with the rest of your class and if you don’t, I can put you in summer school.” As soon as she said that to me the first thing I said was, “I will do my best to finish my classes and communicate with my teachers so that I can graduate with everyone else.” I ended up finishing my classes with the help and support of Mrs. Bianca, and she was the one to let me know I would be graduating with my classmates. Mrs. Bianca had helped me communicate with my teachers about my situation. She made sure to pick out teachers that she knew would understand and help me graduate on time. I was so excited to hear that I could graduate with the rest of the class of 2021. I was going to walk the stage and get my diploma with both of my parents present. I was afraid that having my parents, who are divorced, in different states would make it difficult for them to put away their differences for one day. I thought I would have to graduate with only one parent on the bleacher cheering me on. I am glad I had both of my parents on the school bleachers the day of my graduation yelling my name when the principal handed the diploma. 

Moving to another state for my senior year was challenging, but I was able to overcome my struggles by graduating. I graduated on time with the rest of my class. The pandemic set challenges but also made me grow closer to my family, friends, Luis, Elle, and Bianca. I learned new things about myself and my relationships with people. I was able to push myself and was able to graduate with the support of everyone. They never gave up on me, so I never gave up, no matter what challenges the pandemic threw at me. Although I was told I probably wouldn’t graduate, I kept going until I was able to reach my goal. I was so excited to hear my name on stage while I grabbed my diploma. The clapping and cheering from my family while I shook the principal's hand was an amazing feeling. I could see my parents on the bleachers clapping and being proud of their daughter. During this pandemic we all wanted something good to happen and for my family this was it. Me being able to graduate was a big accomplishment despite the challenges Covid caused. I learned that I could do more than what I set my mind to. After all the schools I attended I am proud to say I did it, I am a first-generation student that will go to college to pursue my dream career.