By: Colton Bishop

Since March 13 the Tussey Mountain students have been dealing with not seeing their friends, riding the bus, driving to school, and being at practice for their spring sport. Dealing with self distancing can be hard, knowing that you want to go out and spend some time with your friends. Some parents are allowing that and some aren’t. 

Tussey student Makenzie Kline who is a freshman and a varsity track athlete stated that “not going to school is hard. You can’t get the help that you need from the teacher because you can’t see them in person.”  Makenzie said she is happy that there is no track, but at the same time she says, “ I’m not.” The reason why she is not happy is because “I can’t letter in track and I won’t be in shape for weightlifting for next year’s track season.”  Makenzie goes on to explain, “With there being no school and spring sports, I’m starting to feel bored because there is not much to do at my house. I’m starting to miss the friends that I had in sports.” 

In Makenzie’s free time she spends time with her two nephews Bentlee and Carsyn. “My sister had a baby a day ago,” explains Makenzie, “so I like to go over to her house to spend some time with her and the baby.” Makenzie stated “I go outside and sit plus I go for walks.” 

With the homeschooling Makenzie said “The hardest thing for me is trying to keep up with all of my assignments because I have to go through Canvas and Google Classroom to see my assignments that are due. It’s hard because I have other classes to do in one day and other things to do with my family as well.”

Makenzie plans her day “by being left alone in my room so I can focus on my homework and school work. I also want to have a day by myself with some food and drinks and just do some extra work so I can have a few extra days off.” Makenzie misses her friends saying, “you can’t sit there and goof off with them, telling jokes and making up funny stories of things.”  She reflects on one of her favorite classes, “The thing that I miss the most was Metal class with Mr.Blackmon 4th period. In metal class I got to make a lot of things with the metal and I got to take them home.” 

Makenzie has some concerns as the announcement comes that students will not return to the building this school year. “Being out for the rest of the school year is hard because what about our stuff in our lockers?”  Makenzie wonders. “What about our track warm ups that we bought? What about seeing your friends before going on summer break?” She realizes, “Being the student of all of this is starting to become hard.”