4/2/20 Huda Jafri PD 5

4/2/2020

Huda Jafri 

Period 5

Blogger #12

■ What is it like working from home?

Remote learning has been fairly enjoyable so far, as I can complete my work at my own pace without feeling rushed. I’ve always been good at handling stress regarding homework and tests, however, it’s a different case at school. In math and science, I tend to take a bit more time than my peers when solving questions, which can be frustrating, but online school has helped minimize that issue as I am able to focus more on myself rather than those around me. In addition, although I do get easily distracted during zoom calls, I've noticed that I've been much more efficient. I’ve been doing my work as soon as I get it, as I’m now able to time out my day myself. 

Despite all these perks, there are still drawbacks. For instance, due to the three-day cycles, I don’t start class until 11:00 except for B days, when I have class at 9:00. During regular school, I always woke up on time, but having it online has decreased the sense of urgency I felt about school. This has led to me sleeping through my 9:00 class twice already. Regardless, I would say the benefits definitely outweigh the costs. 

■ What are the updates around the world/community regarding the virus?

Globally, there are currently 962,882 confirmed corona virus cases, with 49,191 deaths and 203,274 recoveries. The United States has the most cases, 216,265, with Italy coming in at second with 110,574. In the United States, New York has the highest number of cases with 83,901 confirmed. New Jersey has the second most with 22,255, followed by California at 9,937. 

Yesterday, April 1. Florida’s governor announced a state-wide stay at home order, meaning people are required to stay at home unless absolutely necessary. Cases in Italy are currently peaking according to The Financial Times, which means the worst for them may be over. In addition, according to The Washington Post, the infection curve is said to be flattening in San Francisco and Washington state, proving that social distancing is working. 

■ What are you learning about your world/community based on the reactions?

The biggest lesson I learned through all this was that people don’t pay attention until it’s too late. The reaction I was most shocked by was my own. During regents week break in January, I remember having plans to go to the city with my friends, but someone canceled due to their mom being “paranoid about a virus”. My friends and I dubbed this as exaggerating and went anyway. That same friend said her mom made her start wearing masks on public transportation on her way to school, and then stopped her from going out with her friends in areas besides Staten Island. This was all while the virus was still said to be in China. At the time, my friend thought her mom was being unreasonably anxious, and we were both assured that there was nothing to worry about. Knowing what we know now, we may have taken her warnings a bit more seriously and been a bit more careful about going out. 

As for other people, the media has made it easy to see the bad parts of our society. Every day there’s a new story about people being assaulted for wearing masks or videos of people licking subway poles. Racist and xenophobic attacks have increased drastically against Asians. The truth is, this isn’t because of the virus. Ignorant people will look for reasons to be ignorant. This virus is just a scapegoat for them. Racism isn’t reprehensible. 

In spite of all this, it’s important not to lose sight of the good in the world. For every story about people fighting over the last pasta box, there’s another about someone helping the elderly do their grocery shopping. The main thing I learned about my community through all of this is that good people are everywhere. Although the negatives are often pushed into our face, we need to have faith that there are still positives, even if they’re harder to see.