By Sue Moore
Now that the “plan” has gone out to the Vicksburg Community Schools students, the life of leisure is already taking a back seat from the first few weeks of the “stay at home, stay safe” routine, one young person acknowledges.
Levi Thomas, a junior at Vicksburg High School said, “We as students went from total structure in the classroom as given to us by the school, to having to work on our own without the structure of the teacher standing in front of us. Thus, we have to figure out how to manage our own time. With the five weeks off, the biggest struggle was to stay motivated to study, even though it was offered to us via online courses from our teachers,” Thomas said. He is active on the track and cross country teams. He has been a class leader in academics and, before the coronavirus shutdown, held the top grade point average in the junior class with 4.28.
“The email we received this week from our teachers now gives us required work to do each day. There is a calendar for the week,” Thomas said. It’s for all of his courses – six advanced placement (AP) classes and trigonometry, which is his only non-advanced placement class, but hard enough anyway, Thomas explained.
“I will have two to three subjects per day with 30 to 45 minutes per subject amounting to 2 -3 hours a day. Monday and Wednesday, it’s 30 minutes of math and 30 minutes of English language arts classes. On Tuesday and Thursday, it’s science and social studies along with computer science. Friday is electives day.
“The word is that we will receive a credit/no credit grade in each, partially on correct answers and partially just completing the work. I believe the teachers have done a good job making the classes accessible to everyone,” he said.
Thomas has six big AP tests coming up. “I want to get up each morning to know there is a purpose in it. My sleep schedule hasn’t taken that big of a hit but I have friends who have been sleeping past noon. It’s hard to keep a routine. My day could just consist of sitting around, so I’ve tried real hard to not be pulled in that direction.”
“I’ve learned a lot about myself. I don’t like being in isolation; I prefer being around people. Sometimes it’s hard to grasp. There are all kinds of possibilities one could take from this free time, but hard to see it when sitting and watching your 10th TV show.”
“Such is life, I suppose.”