Aron Choe recently joined Wayne Hills his sophomore year. Choe had the opportunity to play tennis and develop his skills full time as a freshman, and to keep up with his studies, he did school online. Choe shares how his experience compares to school in quarantine: 

What are some tricks and study tips that you have learned from online school? Such as how to focus at home or how to manage your time. 

“I have struggled to find some study habits as I once was a huge procrastinator. However, through this struggle, I managed to discover many different ways to help myself focus and manage my time. First, I advise you to find a time period where you feel you have the most concentration. For me, I have the most concentration either early in the morning or late at night. Therefore, in between, I get to do an activity which leads me to my next point; do a PHYSICAL activity before you study. Staying active before you study not only lets your mind take a rest, but also gives you dopamines to help you study and stay more optimistic. This plan might not work as most teachers follow the regular school day, so it might be best to just follow the Pomodoro Technique.” 

Do you enjoy online school better than public school? 

“Online school had its benefits; from less time-consuming work, to more freedom and choice, I 100% agree that online school has its benefits. However, public school would be the winner for me. As I meet more people and understand what it is like to have a “regular high school experience,” public high school has better perks than online school. I have noticed that I retain more knowledge in a classroom setting with discussions. It would be great to blend some online school habits and some public school habits as it would definitely make the school system more bearable and exciting.” 

Was it hard to adjust this year to high school especially since it was your sophomore year at Hills? 

“Adjusting was definitely a rollercoaster ride for me as most teachers would say. Since the environment, routine, and expectations were all so different, it took me a while to adjust. The main reason why I would say that it was bearable was because of my friends that I made from middle school. They were super supportive and helped me along the path of a “successful WHHS student.” Literally, even with much help from my friends, I still got lost in the hallways the first two quarters, lost two or three bags, and didn’t know how to work the school computers! However, once I was finally getting used to WHHS ,we had to be quarantined. Now I really don’t know what to do next year!”