Virtual Learning

Caliope Couchell-Wilson

Class of 2002 (King House)

The perspective of the QC Parent

We are surviving…sort of...

While many of the hiccups of virtual learning have smoothed out over the past year and a half, and we know so much more than we did, every day is still a struggle with new challenges. My family frequently experiences frustration, depression, anxiety, and grief. Unlike last year, there seems to be a new expectation this semester that the goal is no longer to just survive but also to thrive...which seems unattainable and adds more stress to the task of survival. As college deadlines and national graduation requirements loom, priorities that had been put on hold are now being pushed forward full steam without a lot of the traditional support and tools.

As we leave lockdown, the challenges have changed, and we aren’t all in the same boat. Jobs have been lost or had to be sacrificed to allow for childcare. Longtime friends and family members have died without us coming together or stopping long enough to properly mourn. Tensions rise as the unending vaccination debate rages on dividing households. Parents have little time and energy for each other as they struggle to meet the needs of their families...when was the last time anyone went on a date night?! Even the QC community has changed as longtime members have had to make hard decisions to leave our beloved institution. Seniors have graduated and started new lives without the traditional send-off.

The treadmill of life is at full speed, with not enough hours or energy in a day to accomplish all we wish to. Children are left home alone as we return to our offices, often with heavier workloads as we play catchup on months out of office and cover for colleagues caring for young children or in quarantine. We are torn between trying to support our children while pacifying bosses and clients who are less sympathetic than they were last year, as we all struggle to keep businesses afloat.

I am not on the same schedule as my kids. When I hit the weekend, I crave time at home; I just want to crash on my couch and catch up with household chores. However, my children, who have been home alone all week, are anxious to escape our house and interact with others. They are struggling with a prison sentence, which doesn’t get easier the longer they are incarcerated. It is a massive feat for them to keep up with all their school work, and at times they are more successful than others. Although their teachers go above and beyond to offer support, they feel the loss of peer interaction and support keenly. They miss the ability to ask a classmate for help with an assignment, vent about their workload with friends, or have a better sense of how others did on a test. It doesn’t help that social media is

• Navy Birthday • National Metastatic Breast Cancer

Awareness Day • National No Bra Day • National Curves Day – Second

Wednesday in October • National Emergency Nurse’s Day – Second Wednesday in October • National Bring Your Teddy Bear to

Work/School Day – Second Wednesday in October • National Stop Bullying Day – Second

Wednesday in October • National Fossil Day – On Wednesday of

Second Full Week in October • National Take Your Parents To Lunch

Day – Changes Annually (October 13, 2021)

October 14 • National Dessert Day • Be Bald and Be Free Day

October 15 • National Shawarma Day • National Aesthetician Day • National Cheese Curd Day • National I Love Lucy Day • National Grouch Day • National Latino AIDS Awareness Day • National Pregnancy and Infant Loss

Awareness Day • National White Cane Safety Day • National Mammography Day – Third

Friday in October • Boss’s Day (or National Boss’s Day) – Annually Oct. 16 unless it falls on a weekend. Then it’s the closest workday.

October 16 • National Sports Day • National Liqueur Day • National Dictionary Day • Global Cat Day • Department Store Day • National Sweetest Day – Third Saturday in October

October 17 • National Edge Day • National Mulligan Day • National Pasta Day • Black Poetry Day

October 18 • National Exascale Day • International Legging Day • National Chocolate Cupcake Day • National No Beard Day • National Clean Your Virtual Desktop

Day – Third Monday in October

October 19 • National Kentucky Day • National Seafood Bisque Day • National LGBT Center Awareness Day • Pro-Life Day of Silent Solidarity – Third

Tuesday in October • National Pharmacy Technician Day –

Third Tuesday in October

October 20 • National Chicken and Waffles Day * • National Youth Confidence Day • National Brandied Fruit Day • BRA Day USA – Third Wednesday in

October • Hagfish Day – Third Wednesday in

October • Support Your Local Chamber of Commerce – Third Wednesday in October • Medical Assistants Recognition Day –

On Wednesday of Third Business Week in October

October 21 • National Witch Hazel Day * • National Pumpkin Cheesecake Day • National Reptile Awareness Day • National Get Smart About Credit Day –

Third Thursday in October • Get to Know Your Customers Day –

Third Thursday of Each Quarter (January, April, July, October)

October 22 • National Make a Dog’s Day • National Nut Day • National Color Day

October 23 • National Boston Cream Pie Day • National Mole Day • National TV Talk Show Host Day (Johnny Carson’s birthday) • Swallows Depart from San Juan Capistrano Day • iPod Day • National Make A Difference Day –

Fourth Saturday in October

October 24 • National Food Day • National Bologna Day • United Nations Day • National Mother-in-Law Day – Fourth

Sunday in October

October 25 • National Greasy Food Day • Sourest Day • Chucky, The Notorious Killer Doll Day

October 26 • National Financial Crime Fighter Day • National Tennessee Day • National Day of the Deployed • National Mule Day • National Pumpkin Day • National Mincemeat Day

October 27 • National Civics Day * • National American Beer Day • Navy Day • National Black Cat Day

October 28 • National Internal Medicine Day • National Chocolate Day • National First Responders Day

October 29 • National Cat Day • National Oatmeal Day • National Hermit Day • World Stroke Day • National Pharmacy Buyer Day – Friday of Last Full Week in October • National Frankenstein Friday – Last

Friday in October • National Breadstick Day – Last Friday in October

October 30 • National Speak Up For Service Day • National Publicist Day • National Candy Corn Day • National Trick or Treat Day – Last

Saturday in October

October 31 • National Doorbell Day • National Caramel Apple Day • National Knock-Knock Jokes Day • National Magic Day • Girl Scout Founder’s Day • Halloween

*Day * – New Proclamation

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