Pandemic? What a Disaster!!

By Jorleny Clemente

A young girl whose parents divorced when she was little has come very far. Born in the United States with her other brother, she had difficulty growing up without the care of a mother. A father named Galindo — a painter — and a mother named Olga, who did not work, were both born in Guatemala. Both parents came at a young age to the United States, got married there, and had two children. My father, who is 43, had raised 4 kids on his own. Now, one of those children is 18 years old and has grown up with the dream of becoming a doctor — a physician, medical doctor, or pediatrician — as it can assist her in growing into someone big to provide for the family. As time passed, the child went through kindergarten, middle school, high school, and college to continue her education. The pandemic, which is happening throughout the country, has caused multiple changes in people’s lives. However, when the pandemic hit during high school and college, the child faced many challenges at home the moment the class went from in-person to online. Not only did she face challenges, but her brothers, father, schoolmates, and friends did as well. For example, experiencing interruptions at home, internet problems, and how learning in-person is way better than online. These experiences that she faced taught her lessons that she learned and kept in her heart.

As the class went from In-person to online, it affected me greatly as I experienced many interruptions at home. As the pandemic hit, many people who worked either got fired or had less to do for their jobs. Due to all the free time that has been accumulating since there is not that much for them to do in their job (released early), the people would spend more time at home. In my case, it would be my father along with the family that lived with us. My father worked some days while other days he did not. However, when I had class online, he made sure to be quiet. I cannot say the same for the family that lives with us. Carmen has two children who are about 3-4 years old, and they can make a lot of noise. The children run around and play inside with their balls and even scooters. Either way, our house is relatively small since we live in a duplex. I conduct my online classes in the kitchen since I share a room with my brother and father. While in the kitchen, the children interrupt me asking me questions about what I do.

The little girl asked, “Qué clase estás tomando ahorita?” (what class are you taking right now) and “Quien es tu maestro?” (who’s your teacher)

I responded in an exhausted manner: “Estoy en mi clase de matemáticas y mi profesor es Paulette” (I am in math class right now and my professor is Paulette).

“Oh, y a que hora vas a salir de classes?” (what time are you getting out of class?)

“At 10” I responded.

She pulls up a chair, sits right beside me, and stares intensely at me. That’s when I noticed that she kept looking at the chips I had beside me or any snack. I am not saying that it’s bad, but when they consistently do it, it gets very tiresome and I ca not honestly keep up with the class. The mother does tend to inform her children to leave me alone but the children don’t listen. You would think that she would punish them or something but no, she does nothing at all. When we had a break of 10 minutes, I would use the time to go to the bathroom or get a quick snack. Next thing you know, the kids are touching my computer and they tend to log me out of zoom or even unmute. It gets REALLY embarrassing since fellow classmates can hear. This usually happens and it has impacted my grade, and when we are in breakout rooms, it’s difficult to speak as there is background noise. But due to there being a lot of family members at home, it was tough to find a quiet place.

Not only did I face that challenge but another obstacle I faced would be internet problems while in zoom. Due to my father not working as much as before, there was less of an income, which meant that we as a family had to make some kind of budget since my father is the only one who provides for the house. Since wifi and food were the main things that were important, we had to cut costs in personal belongings because bills were involved, for instance, rent, light/gas bill, phone bill, and bill for 24-hour fitness gym. There were times where payment had to be delayed, as my dad did not receive his paycheck or other bills took priority. I know the struggles my father faced, so when the internet was down, I would ask relatives or close friends whether I could stop by due to my situation. Thankfully, they understood my circumstance and assisted in as much as they could. In particular, Liza — my friend’s pet name — offered that whenever I need help, I can always come by. The reason that the internet interfered was that my father forgot to pay for it sometimes. I remember this one conversation we had through the phone when the internet went out while I was in class.

I panicked and called my father, “Dad!!! The internet went out and I was in class!!”

My father responded with, “What!? Alright, I will check what is going on. Let your professor know that you may not attend the class today.”

I rushed to email my professor what was going on through my phone and hoped that it would not affect me. Later on, my father decided to change companies so we went from AT&T to Wave since it was cheaper as well as provided “better internet.” I was not sure since they had multiple plans but so far it has not caused that much of an issue. Based on how my father sometimes struggled to keep up with bills, I am pretty sure he kept these worries inside of him, as he never reached out to us which made me believe that he did not want us to worry and focus more on our studies. Knowing this made me very sad, as I could not do much to help my father who looked tired everyday.

Furthermore, in-person class is way better than through zoom as the involvement one experiences when in person with others improves one as a person. When one is in an in-person class, they could ask many questions without background noise through zoom and one would not lag due to internet issues. Along with that, the person is more likely to focus more in class and about the subject due to the person not laying around in bed being lazy or on their phone. Besides, one can communicate more with their peers face to face which allows us to have a full-on experience and make new friends. In zoom, it tends to get awkward, but in person, people continue to chat for long periods of time. When I was in high school, during zoom, our professor sent us to breakout rooms and I was the only one talking. I would discuss the topics, but there would be no response.

I would question them, “So what do you guys think or believe is the answer?”.

They responded with, “Silence...silence.”

“Alright then, I guess we will go with this,” I respond laughing nervously.

Once again I say, “I believe ## would be the answer to question 4. Did anyone else get the same answer?”

“Silence… silence.” Waits 3 more minutes. “Silence.”

I thought to myself that maybe they were shy or were distracted by something else, referring to the phone. But another idea occurred to me, maybe they just want me to do all the work so that they can just copy and not worry about it later. But they could also be experiencing some difficulties at home that may prevent them from speaking or participating. All these issues were not just happening to me, but to those who were also in zoom too.

Based on what I witnessed with my own eyes, I acknowledge that being in person allowed me to break down the walls I built so high up when entering college. I was afraid of not making friends or just talking nervously during class. The reason was that for almost a year, we only talked behind a screen. I was worried that if we met in person, then they might start to critique me or just not want to be friends. But being in class and hearing other people’s ideas encouraged me to open up and I found myself enjoying being in class. In all honesty, I was completely off about my ideas, and it turned out to be quite the opposite. Now in college, I made new friends who don’t mind where I come from. In fact, they support me and aid me when I am stuck or don’t comprehend something.

Some lessons I learned from them were how students are more likely to participate in-person more than in zoom and how one is likely to express themselves once comfortable in an environment. Not only that, but I also learned that even though challenges may arise in life such as the pandemic, one should not worry since there are pros that may arise with them. Therefore, one should not be down. Furthermore, it helped me know that I want my classes to be in person than through zoom so when it comes to making my schedule, I will choose classes in-person. It helped me grow as a person since it allowed me to practice my social skills as well as improve my image. Additionally, when I am in person, there will be less to worry about such as the internet and if another pandemic occurs, I know that I will overcome it and any other obstacle that comes my way.