"In ten years I will give a lot of hugs"

An interview with high school senior Jasmine Gates about learning during a pandemic

Nothing But The Youth is a series of interviews with real live children about the experience of schooling during a pandemic. If you like it, share it. (And if you know kids who have a unique perspective and like talking to strange adults, holler at me!)

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Jasmine Gates is a rising senior and the Student Body President at Pacific Collegiate School, a public charter school in Santa Cruz, California.

Sarah: What was last school year like for you, post-COVID?

Jasmine: In one word, rough. The online system my school created was fairly intense. At first, teachers were just trying to figure it out. Everyone was trying their best, but there wasn’t a lot of guidance for anyone. Teachers didn’t know how much was too much and how much was not enough and I had a lot of teachers doing business as normal. Like “it’s fine we’ll give you the same amount of work even though the world is freaking out.” I’d have a paper due at the end of the week and a math test and a quiz and I was supposed to be studying for the AP’s. Thankfully the saving grace was my school moved to pass/fail for the spring semester. 

Did anything surprise you about learning during quarantine, good or bad?

I found that it was much harder for me to stay motivated and engaged learning during quarantine. It is really hard to focus on school work when it feels like the world is falling apart. It also felt more difficult for me to actually take in and understand the material I was learning over Zoom. The way that I’ve gotten by in math is going in after school and retaking quizzes and doing all the other things that are offered in in-person learning. It’s motivating if you know that you’re putting in the work and it’s going to work out. When we moved to online, there were a lot of other people trying to do Zoom classes in my teacher’s house, you couldn’t hear him, the screen would freeze. There were some office hours but it wasn’t the same. When the quizzes happened I just couldn’t do it. It was hard to prepare when you felt like it wasn’t really gonna work out for you.

Also, it’s so easy to go on your phone during a Zoom class. At school you know you’ll see your friends at break or lunch, but all of that went away, so then you’d have this urge, like if the teacher said something funny to text your friend, but then you’re not learning the material that’s being taught.

What message would you give to adults (teachers, parents, politicians) about what it's like to be a student right now?

I think I would ask adults to listen more to students. If we are saying that something is too much, even if before COVID it was easy, take it to heart. We are going to have to go out into the world and fix whatever the repercussions are, so making the space for younger voices in this is important. Everything is different than it was before, so it is not fair to act as though nothing has changed and expect the same results and reactions. I think that if I was in charge I would say change the way that we’re being tested. Answering 40 multiple choice questions online is just so draining. It’s stressful for everyone involved. It’s hard to ask questions now during tests. I also think they should have just canceled the AP tests and given everyone credit from the class. That was ridiculous.

What are your anxieties about the fall? What are your hopes?

The fall is a stressful time for high school seniors given college applications, but with everything happening in the world right now it is even more intense. I am, like many of my peers, nervous about applying to college in quarantine, frustrated that school cannot be open, and cursing the fact that this happened when I was 17 and not an adult (with my own apartment) when I would be free from the pressures of high school. 

Like a lot of people, I didn’t get to go on any college tours. A lot of schools have gone to test-optional, but not all, so I know I’m not gonna send in my score. It’s a change in the right direction, but it’s different than it has been any other year. The Common App is adding a question about how COVID-19 has affected you, which for me has put a lot of pressure on like “What did I do? What did I learn?” My college advisor said specifically don’t write about something that you haven’t moved past for your college essay. But now we’re supposed to write about COVID-19 and the summer we spent at our houses. The question itself is interesting to have, but I don’t think the pressure of having to do something crazy during this time should have been put upon [us] by colleges.

My biggest hope for this semester right now is that we can return to school on a two day a week plan (we go two days a week and are online for three days, then online for a week, then back two days a week with the other three classes). I am also really hoping that second semester is better is any way. 

Ten years from now, how will you look back on this time?

In ten years I think the things I will remember most are how people found ways to come together and be a community, even at a distance. I know that I will remember all of the social distanced hikes/picnics/early morning ocean swims I got to do with my friends and how over time that became the new normal. I think I’ll remember this as a time where my family got closer, using time we wouldn’t have had otherwise to be with each other. I think I will remember the ways my parents got creative, turning different parts of our house into work spaces. I think I will remember how terrible online class was, and be even more thankful for the in-person learning I got to do in college (fingers crossed). I think in ten years I will give a lot of hugs, because I will remember a time when I couldn’t. 

I get all my best music recommendations from teenagers. What’s your shelter-in-place anthem right now?

Are You Bored Yet? by Wallows. We’re living in such a weird time and the coming-of-age dystopian vibes fit the mood right now.