I wake up at 6:50 a.m. I roll over to turn off my blaring alarm. Half-awake, I sit up in bed and scroll through Instagram, Tik Tok, and Snapchat. At 7:08 a.m., I roll back over to turn on my computer and log into my zero period PE class. When my teacher asks for “cameras on,” I roll back over to turn on the lamp next to my bed, flatten down my bed head hair, and hit the “start video” button. After a few minutes of concentrating, my eyes are drawn away from the computer and towards my phone. It’s calling out to me. Of course, I get sucked back into my phone and the world beyond the four walls of my room. When I look up from my phone, the teacher is dismissing the rest of my classmates and closing out the zoom.

Next is my first period; my teacher welcomes us into her class, playing music as she does so every time. The happy tunes fill my empty brain as I stare at my teacher masking her exhaustion with a fake smile. She starts talking about atoms, electrons, and electronegativity. I’m lost again. Back on my phone, I go. I begin to get notifications, “Did you do last night’s homework?” “Do you understand what’s going on?” “Can you send me your notes?” I become so distracted by the notifications that I’ve just missed what our next assignment is.

During my second period, I end up neglecting my class and focusing on other work for other classes, occasionally coming back to the Zoom tab to stare at black screens and the names of classmates I’ve never actually met. I am eagerly waiting for 11:10 a.m. because that means lunchtime and I will get out of bed for the first time today.

After the quick 40-minute break, I climb back into my bed with a Yerba Mate in hand, ready and caffeinated to log into my third-period class. My teacher sends the class off into breakout rooms of our choice. My breakout room makes fun and light conversation despite having nothing new to share, which distracts us from the fact we have no idea how to do the 22 math problems we were assigned. Photomath and YouTube have become my new best friends when it comes to trying to simplify radicals. The little white rectangle pops up on my screen, informing me that the breakout room will be closing in 10 seconds. I say my goodbyes and return to the main session.

I’m reaching the end of my day with one more zoom to log into: US History. My teacher greets us and begins to talk through current events, “Trump supporters storm the capitol,” “Trump has been impeached … again.” The class switches gears and suddenly we are talking about imperialism, Native Americans, and colonialism. I am trying to take notes and write down what is on the slide until it is switched to the next. I keep gazing down at the clock on the bottom right of my screen, calculating how many minutes I have until the class is over. Now my teacher is assigning the class pages upon pages from the textbook to take notes on for homework. Great. Finally, it is 2:35 p.m., my favorite time of the day. Can’t wait to see what tomorrow has in store for me.