Over the course of the past months, students across Montana — including CMR sophomore Hunter Holterback — have made the adjustment from school to working online, and they all admit there are pros and cons to the situation.

“I’m a visual and hands-on learner. I need the teacher to demonstrate and explain it in real life,” Holterback said. She said she has been more self-sufficient while working online. Not doing homework at 10 at night has been a highlight for Holterback. She said she likes working during the day on school work, and it is not taking as long as normal homework. 

“I work more so I get paid more,” Holterback said. She had been working a couple hours after school, but now she works all day. She is a babysitter for one of her brother’s friends. A couple things she doesn’t like are that she doesn’t get to see anybody and that all the stores and everything are closed down so she gets bored easily when she is not working.

All in all, Holterback does not like working from home because she doesn’t get to see her friends, and it’s harder for her to learn.

But Holterback is not alone when it comes to having online school affect her personal life.

Senior Karissa Biddle explains how her personal and school life have been affected.  

“I miss all of school. I miss my friends and art class the most,” Biddle said. She said she is miserable because she doesn’t like being indoors and missing the last days of her senior year. She can’t do anything or get out of the house because everything is closed. She is also a visual learner so it is very hard to learn. Her grades dropped because she can’t learn online. On the other hand, she likes working through the day so it takes two hours instead of six.

“I can’t even celebrate my 18th birthday,” Biddle said. She wanted to throw a big party and celebrate with her friends because she is becoming an adult, but she can’t now because of Covid-19.

Rustler junior Ashlyn Rabe is disappointed, saying she misses school and choir the most, but she is is adjusting to online school.

“You don’t have that one-on-one.  You just have to look at it and figure it out,” Rabe said. She likes online school, but at the same time does not.

“Trying to learn everything is hard,” she said. Her grades have stayed the same over the first two weeks of school closure. 

“I can be comfortable in my own home and do homework in my own bed,” she said.  Not getting to leave her house and getting bored very easily, Rabe said she has more time to be by herself or work out if she wants.