SPS Today: Student Voice on COVID-19
Sixth Form Officers Offer Their Perspective
Sixth Form officers (l. to r.) Logan Cudlip, Christofer Robles, Alison Liu, and Zoë Dienes.
Sixth Form Officers Christofer Robles (president), Alison Liu (vice president), Logan Cudlip (secretary), and Zoë Dienes (treasurer) answer questions about their school routines at home and what they miss about daily life at SPS.
What has been the hardest adjustment to make as SPS has moved to distance learning?
Christofer Robles: I follow a pretty strict routine when I am at school, but distance learning has completely changed that. At home, I am much less organized and can very rarely anticipate what the day will bring, especially because living with all my siblings (ages 22, 15, and 13) can mean overlapping schedules, commitments, and a general chaos that can be a lot of fun, but not the best for creating an academic environment.
Alison Liu: The hardest adjustment has been being apart from my friends and the SPS community in general. At SPS, I feel like I’m part of such an inclusive and friendly community and I miss seeing people on the paths. It has been hard to take classes virtually at home and not be able to personally engage with classmates and my teachers. I miss being able to talk to anyone and everyone around campus, and all the little fun moments we have laughing with each other.
Logan Cudlip: Being home for this long has been an experience in itself and it has put into perspective how much I miss my friends. Your friends become your family, your biggest support, and biggest motivation. Being removed from that has been by far my greatest challenge.
Zoë Dienes: It has been difficult for me to lose the physical community St. Paul’s offers. It can be difficult to maintain the same sense of community while so far distanced from my friends. I miss sitting on the floor of my friend’s bedroom and talking about our day. I miss sitting in the Upper until 7 p.m., drinking tea with my friends. I miss walking into Chapel and singing. There are so many powerful community moments in a day, and I really miss them.
What is your daily school routine?
Robles: I wake up an hour or so before my first commitment, so I have time to shower, make breakfast, and make sure everything is in order for the day. Because of limited space, most days I work in my living room, but I like to take advantage of good weather by doing my classes outside. I’m usually on my computer in class or doing homework until dinnertime, which has become one of the few times no one in my house is busy and when we can all gather around and talk about our day.
Liu: To be honest, with distance learning, I generally wake up 10 minutes before my first class, brush my teeth, change, and open up my computer. I normally have a small breakfast at some point between classes and then make lunch for me and my sisters (ages 28 and 21). After classes, I relax for a bit, either by calling friends or napping, and then I workout.
Cudlip: I’ve been getting better at cooking for sure. Well, cooking eggs at least. I eat eggs every day now, sometimes between my online classes. After classes, I try to FaceTime my friends or play against them online in video games. It’s weird doing homework alone every day, so I try to FaceTime friends for company. Once a week, I try and keep up with my adviser.
Dienes: I have tried to maintain a consistent schedule throughout this time of distance learning. I try to wake up with enough time to eat breakfast before starting my synchronous classes. During the 10-minute breaks in between classes, I try to make sure I stretch and move around. After my last synchronous commitment, which is usually the Ballet Company’s rehearsal, I start working on my homework. Once I’ve finished with my homework and eaten dinner with my family, I try to make sure I call my friends before I go to sleep.
What, if anything, do you think you will take away from this experience?
Robles: I’ve gained a great amount of patience through this experience. Being away from SPS in general, especially during our Sixth Form spring, has been heartbreaking. However, I have been working on channeling that frustration into positivity. Though I can’t physically be at SPS, I still feel an immense pride for being a student and I have learned that much of an experience is how I react to it and deal with it.
Liu: I think something I will take away from this experience is to appreciate every little moment in life and always live in the moment. At a place like SPS, it can be easy to get caught up in a routine and forget to appreciate every moment you have with friends.
Cudlip: This is an amazing learning experience for not just us students but for schools as well. I think many students and teachers will discover ways we can make education and learning as efficient as possible by contrasting our online experience with our SPS experience…I think we’ve been able to take a step back and press reset on some of the hectic things in our lives.
Dienes: This experience has been challenging, but it has also been an opportunity for me to find the positive side of a difficult situation. The time I have spent with family has been an unexpected gift, and I have been able to experiment with fun projects with my [four] siblings.