Home Study or School – Closed Walls or Running corridors!

We all groan about how we don’t want to get up in the mornings and go to school, but believe it or not that is what I’m wishing for these days. We have all got so used to criticizing it that we do not notice how much it actually means to us.

This may seem cheesy but a feeling of nostalgia overcomes me when I think of our school. Nothing can replace the feeling of being in a classroom with people you know and spend most of the day with, and together expanding the horizons of your knowledge.

We say that we get bored in class but if we actually focus on our teachers’ words we will realize how interesting and thought-provoking they can be.

Doesn’t it give you a feeling of unity when, as the bell for break-time rings, all the students rush out of the class to whatever they enjoy doing? Be it playing a football match or wolfing down biryani in the school canteen, we all love spending time with people who we connect with, and whose company we enjoy, our friends and class-fellows.

Our teachers may seem strict at times but they truly care about us and that is why they want us to do the best we can at our studies so we can succeed in life.

Studying from home is quite different from studying at school, to say the least.

Online classes take some getting used to but you eventually get accustomed to listening to your teacher, even though she is not standing in front of you, and recognizing your class fellows by the sound of their voices instead of their looks. As Stephen Hawking said,” Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change”.

Studying from home has its advantages too. Those of you who, like me, are hungry the whole time can leisurely snack on whatever delectable food you wish during classes. However, this once led to an awkward situation for me. I was listening to my biology teacher give a lecture when he asked me a question regarding what he was explaining, and I had to sit there, in the embarrassing silence, while he waited for me to reply. This was owing to the unfortunate fact that, at that moment, my mouth was full of scrumptious chocolate-chip cookies. After that incident, I have been very careful to always take small bites of the food that I am snacking on.

There are other good things about studying from home.

Our school starts at 9 o’clock instead of at 8:00, and also closes earlier at 1 o’clock. Furthermore, we don’t waste any time on the commute to school as we just have to sit down at any table in our house (or even on a comfy sofa or a bed, like me some of us tend to do) for the classes.

To be honest, though, I somehow find it harder to wake up in the mornings for the online classes than I did for school.

Studying from home also leaves us with more time to do the things we cannot do in our normal busy schedules. Like learning to play an instrument, and improving our skills, be they playing football, video games, or singing.

Apart from this, we get the opportunity to spend more time with our families, which, sadly, is something that in our fast paced lives we do not get time for.

Nevertheless, I would like to mention that I have noticed many of us complaining about being stuck in our homes due to the COVID-19 virus. This, I feel, is a wonderful time for us to count our blessings and be thankful to God for all that He has given us. We are very fortunate to have every supply we can possibly need and are living in the comfort and safety of our homes.

Surprisingly, though it hasn’t even been a month since the school closed, I am really looking forward to going back, yearning to climb the long flight of stairs, run through brightly decorated corridors to our class and sit in lessons with my friends and class fellows.

Maryam Jaffar

IGCSE – I

One World Campus,

Millennium Education