Our Leaders in Lockdown
I’m Hang Thu Nguyen and I’m the Year 12 Student Council leader. Since being in isolation, I have really enjoyed seeing my family more and having a more flexible timetable. But I’m sure, like all of us, I missed my friends and freedom of going out, especially so during the holidays.
As two of my other sisters have moved out, I have also missed them, my nieces and nephews. The worst thing of isolation, for me at least, was seeing the same things and being in the same environment everyday, at every hour.
During this strange time, I’m really grateful for the continuous communication and encouragement from teachers, as well as technology and the blessing of the internet, as this really helped with connecting me to friends, family and school. Something even more peculiar than this situation we are in, is that I am looking forward to going back to school again!
My name is Leean Miranda and, for me, just like many others, isolation has been a very
unique and interesting time. For the last couple of months, I have been at home with my
family, including my father, mother and brother.
During this time, I have enjoyed spending some extra time with my family which differs from our usual busy schedules where we don’t have a lot of time to spare. This extra time has also allowed me to enjoy new things that I wouldn’t normally do. I’ve tried my hand at cooking and, though I can’t say I’m a master chef, I can definitely say it has been very fun to cook things from doughnuts to chicken. I’ve also been inspired by videos of what others have been doing during isolation, which encouraged me to step away from a screen and attempt to do something more creative, through drawing. While in my house, I’ve also enjoyed things that I would usually overlook, including something as simple as spending time in my backyard and enjoying some fresh air after being indoors for a while.
I have learnt to appreciate many things because I missed them while in isolation. Seeing
someone through a screen or just talking to them is very different from seeing them in
person, which is why I miss being able to be with friends. Also, although staying away from school may seem like a positive, I have really missed interacting with other students and teachers. I realised how much of a challenge online learning can be at times and miss being able to ask questions in person. Finally, I miss the certainty of having a timetable of classes and knowing what will happen in terms of just general plans for the year, such as exams.
It has been a challenge to create a schedule for myself over the past weeks and especially
to stick to it. Finding motivation, while stuck at home, to complete all work assigned and
fulfil other responsibilities has been difficult.
However, many people have assisted me during this time. My family was always there for
me and supported me. I also found talking to my friends, who were going through a similar
experience, was a great help. Teachers also assisted through online classes and answering any questions and concerns.
It has been very difficult to watch the news every day and witness the devastation that can
be seen around the world. It makes me grateful to the people on the front lines and also
made me further realise how lucky I am. This experience of lockdown is something I will
never forget because it has given me the chance to learn new things and appreciate
everything I already have and take for granted.
Hi everyone! My name is Carolyn Mayom and I am your Year 11 Student Council Leader for 2020. I hope you all are not going crazy during isolation. Throughout my lockdown experience, I have mostly enjoyed spending quality time with my family. I am at home with three of my siblings, my mum,s a healthcare worker so she hasn't been home at all during isolation. I have had the opportunity to enjoy luxuries such as not having to wake up at 7am every morning, instead walking to my desk from my bed, I have enjoyed being in my own little world at home, as an introvert that's something I enjoy. My self-quarantine experience has been very out of the ordinary, but very common to many students. I have also enjoyed being able to follow my own timetable, sleeping in a little and having the flexibility to eat at every hour of the day. However, I have missed being around my friends, my classmates and the just norms of being in a classroom and a school. Throughout the course of online learning all my teachers have assisted me well, reaching out through emails and pointing me in the right direction with work. The most common and challenging aspect of remote learning and being isolated for me has been learning new content online, instead of face-to-face. It's quite tricky to really engage with teachers and the topic that we would cover during tutorials. Overall the difficulties of remote learning were very much limited with the help of all those around me.
Hi everyone, my name is Christine Nabalarua and I’m the Year 12 Sports Committee Leader. I’m currently at home with my mum and my older sister. Throughout this isolation period the most thing I’ve probably enjoyed was spending time with my family and being thankful we’re all safe and sound. Besides missing my friends and extended family, I missed being able to do the small stuff, especially sitting in restaurants. My teachers have helped me through isolation and keeping me on track with my work and making sure I’m doing my work on time. The most challenging thing about isolation will definitely be doing school work and trying to go to tutorials every week due to my responsibilities at home and helping out my extending family with a lot of things. Overall, my isolation was challenging but I was incredibly grateful to be with my family during this difficult time.
Hi everyone, my name is Charlene Nheu.
Isolation has been interesting; it has definitely been both good and bad. I’m at home with my parents and younger brother, which has allowed me to spend so much more time with them. Before this I felt as if I hadn’t spent enough time with them, because of the ‘busyness’ of life. I also feel like I’ve been given time for myself to relax and reflect to get my mind in the best place. I’ve been doing lots of baking and much more exercise, which I’m grateful for, but I do miss the freedom to go out to places like the movies, city etc. and being able to play netball with my team. I miss seeing my friends; seeing their faces and talking face to face, and sharing stories. Speaking virtually is not the same, but it has taught me to cherish every moment together.
Honestly, without the help of my family and friends I would not have been able to stay sane. They constantly check up on me, call me and we talk on a daily basis. Listening to music and making playlists was also great at helping me cope.
I found myself procrastinating a lot when online schooling started but I just decided to give it time and now I’ve gotten the hang of things. Sometimes you’ve just got to do it, instead of waiting for the motivation. Motivation will come to you once you’ve started. I’ve learnt that not everyday has to be productive, because it’s still amazing if you’ve managed to get through the day. This whole experience is one I’ll always remember.
Hi, I am Jiwanjot Dhillon, and this isolation period was a very different and unique experience. I was grateful to be home with my family and be able to spend some quality time with them. Hearing that schools were closing down didn’t have my best reaction. As it was upsetting that we were going to miss out on so many of our ‘last’ things, such as our final athletics carnival. I was worried about how the final year of schooling was going to look like and how everything was going to work out. But with the school’s ongoing support, guidance and assistance during this challenging time they made the transition from face-face learning to remote learning easy. Through this period I surely enjoyed the sleep-ins as I didn’t have to wake up early in the morning to catch the school bus, being able to wear casual clothes every day and completing my classes from the desk in my bedroom. I personally found this new system of remote learning easier because I am an independent learner and this way of learning helped me to be more productive and allowed me much more free time as I was able to complete work at my own pace. Even though there were some good things to come out of the lockdown such as the appreciation for the little things in our lives that we took for granted, I did miss my friends and our lunchtime talks.
Hello everyone, I am Gina Lam and I am the Year 11 Community Service Leader. Studying remotely has been an interesting experience and I have actually learnt a lot during this time. I realised that even though I sometimes get distracted, I thrive while working at home. I easily get my work done and feel so much more relaxed. I really enjoyed working while listening to music, playing games during my small breaks and waking up later than the normal school day! My parents have also been extremely considerate and supportive of my studies, and I am extremely grateful towards them.
However, there are also many things I miss during my isolation, such as having a routine, walking around shopping centres on the weekend and interacting with my friends and teachers. Luckily, I am able to maintain communication with my friends because their texts, humour and joy often makes me smile and laugh. It helped me work through the challenges of being in isolation like lack of motivation and stress. In fact, what I received from the experience of isolation is that; I have amazing people around me and I am so thankful to have them in my life.
Martina Charoensak. Being out of school and locked in at home has definitely caused some mixed emotions for me. I was so excited to stay in the comfort of my own home where I could be independant about my learning and, as much as it was relaxing to be able to use my phone, it became soooo distracting. I live in a household with four family members and, like me, they had to work at home, so sometimes their conference calls would make it hard to concentrate. However, isolation also granted me time to reflect on my mental state and allowed me to get closer to family. It was challenging to apply structure to my days and stick to a study schedule, but thankfully my dad and mentor helped me to outline my weeks and days to ensure I had a balance of studying, exercising and leisure time. Facetiming friends, new music releases and drawing were the few things that kept me sane.
Hi guys, it's Jashanjot Kaur, your yYear 11 Arts Committee leader for 2020. I am currently quarantined with my family. Weirdly, my brother and I have been getting along lol. What I've enjoyed about quarantine is that I got to make my own timetable, and could complete work/tasks according to myself. Quarantine has given me major time to self-reflect and become kinder to myself. I've been practicing more patience and easy-goingness. I have tried not to stress about small things (which can be extremely hard, especially if anxiety is knocking at the door every five minutes), but instead focus on now, the present moment that I have with myself, and those in my household.
I have definitely missed my friends, and will continue to do so... UNTIL TUESDAY. I also have missed the teachers, it's sad that I didn't have anyone to tell me to stop talking and start doing more work. My parents have been extremely helpful (as always) by constantly providing me with resources for schoolwork completion. The teachers have also worked hard for us, by constantly attending tutorial, after tutorial, after tutorial... even up to 9pm!!!.
The most challenging thing has honestly been trying not to procrastinate by actually getting work done. I tried so hard not to ruin my sleeping routine, but I may have missed attendance at 9am :( once... or twice. I just wanted to remind you all, that this time we spent at home may have been extremely hard for some of us, but it is okay. Things are finally getting better, and although it'll be hard to adjust to 'normal schooling' since we may have found a (kinda) effective routine at home, i'm sure we'll get used to it again.
Just remember to always be kind to yourself, your bodies, your mind and others. Be grateful and show gratitude to even the smallest of things. Remember you are important to many people, and every moment is a fresh beginning. If you have been busy.. or finding it hard to complete work, know that you are not in the boat alone, and that it has been hard for us all. Don't stress too much, but keep trying.
Hi, my name is Grace Wilson. During isolation, I was at home with four of my siblings. My parents and eldest sibling go to work but, once the day is over, a family of eight can get pretty loud and everyone can get annoying. I enjoyed myself and the free time that I got to spend with my family. I missed going out, spending time with my friends, shopping at the shopping centres, even though online there's a wider and better variety. My family has really assisted me in giving me space to do my work for school and getting me coffee whenever I want. It has been challenging to stay motivated and continue working efficiently at home with so many distractions and disruptions. Overall this has been an experience to never forget and it taught me that I should keep my loved ones close and it's okay to be scared.
Hi, I'm Linda Nguyen.
I've been isolated in my house with my family: my mum, my dad, my two sisters and my feral pomeranian dog. Yes, it is as exhilarating as it sounds, and, no, my dog is not as cute as the breed as it may seem.
Can I just say that e-learning is kind of exciting? Sitting for an hour for a livestream with my teachers talking and asking questions with no one responding and my 4-5 livestreams back-to-back were definitely cons, but damn did I love the excessive hours of me-time, eating at random hours, and waking up at 8:59AM just to sign in and knock right out. I was definitely reaping the benefits of e-learning -- if I can say so myself.
However, after only around two days, I missed talking and hanging out with my friends in-person. Throughout the whole lockdown, I've been communicating with my friends digitally, and we've been discussing what to do once lockdown ends -- we have a huge list now. I can't wait until this all ends.
Also, could you believe that we've been stuck at home for seven weeks or more during the lockdown? You'd think it'd be mentally exhausting but, for me and for some that I know, this kind of lifestyle isn't that much of a change. I was surprised to find out that my normal lifestyle was considered as the expected behaviour during a lockdown. Quite humorous now that I type this down. Due to this new lifestyle not being a huge contrast to my normal one, I didn't need anyone to support me.
To all those who read this, congratulations on surviving a pandemic and thank you for your resilience.
Hi, my name is Shreya Dayal, your Year 11 Environment and Sustainability leader. I am at home with my family and pets right now. Some things I have enjoyed during this time is drawing, watching Netflix and walking in the evenings with my family. The thing I miss is being able to go to places with friends and family and just enjoy ourselves. During this time my friends and family are always checking up on each other and we are trying our best to not absolutely hate isolation, but also see some positives such as much more free time and staying in bed while doing school work. The most challenging thing is definitely wanting to go out but knowing you can’t. Before isolation I did not like going out, I’d rather stay home and binge-watch a TV show, but for some reason, the fact that I’m not allowed to go places makes me sad, for example, I can’t go see a movie on the weekend in the cinemas. Even though there are negatives in lockdown, there are still positives and I’m just making the most of this time while I can.
Hi, I’m Tayla Cornell from Year 10 and here is a little recap on my isolation experience! During this time at home, I was with my two parents and my dog, Angel. I have had a rather enjoyable experience and used this lockdown as a time to relax, watch netflix and play video games. However, I have also used this as an opportunity to benefit my studies as an attempt to make the transition to regular school life as seamless as possible. With all this extra time on my hands, I have been able to organise my work allowing me to have extra focus on my VCE subject and better prepare for upcoming assessments. Although I have been able to embrace the positives I have found, in isolation, there are many things I miss from school. I have missed each and every one of my friends (obviously!), the face-to-face discussions with the class and teachers, Homeroom and even the banter and loudness on the school bus. The thing I have found most challenging would definitely have to be the lack of social interaction. All in all, I have tried to make the most out of this lockdown experience.
Hello! My name is Isabella Diaco and I am in Year 10. During this lockdown I've been at home with my family, including my mum and dad, my two older sisters and my younger brother. Being in isolation has made me realise the smaller things in life that I have really begun to enjoy, like going for walks and being able to spend more time with my family. I’ve really enjoyed having much more time to myself, allowing me to work on the things I love doing. I have also enjoyed spending more time with my family. Even though isolation has made me realise how privileged I am, it's also made me miss many things. I think I miss the things that just seemed so normal to me before. Things like being able to play sports, going to shopping centres, eating out at cafes and mainly being able to socialise with friends and family. My family has entertained me alot and we have kept each other very busy during lockdown. Also being able to communicate with friends has been really fun as it has kept me entertained as well. The thing that has probably challenged me the most is not being able to see my extended family and friends. I have missed them a lot, especially having the privilege to go out and have a fun time with them. That was my quiet, fun yet unusual experience in isolation, it taught me alot but I can’t wait for things to get back to normal again so I can begin to make new memories.
Hello, I am Catherine Karagiannis, a Year 10 student at Killester College. In isolation, I have been home with my parents and my two brothers. Being in isolation comes with its pros and cons. I have definitely enjoyed sleeping in and being able to catch up with all my Netflix shows.
However, I have certainly missed my friends and soccer the most during this and honestly not seeing my friends has been one of the challenging things, but I know staying home is for the best for the safety of everyone.
During this time my family has assisted me by keeping me company and checking up on me often. Although at times it can be stressful, we have to look at the positives of this, isolation has given us an opportunity to step back from the pressures of life and get some time to just breathe and reevaluate our values and priorities in life. Hopefully, this is over soon and we can go back to how we used to be.
Hey, I’m Christina Stephanou and I am your Year 10 Chisholm House leader.
During isolation the family members which have been at home with me and supported me during this time are my Mum, Dad and younger brother. Over this time period I have not enjoyed isolation at all but one thing I have enjoyed was coming closer as a family, and doing more things together like cooking, watching movies, doing puzzles and getting to learn each other's different taste in music.
Isolation has made me miss many things. I do miss the company and laughter of my
friends at school and the noisy hallways we used to walk through everyday. I’m quite
surprised, but I actually miss coming to school everyday and learning from our teachers
face to face.
Isolation has been a very challenging period for all of us to adapt to the changes of not
going out, or seeing our close friends and family as often as we used to, but one thing I
have found most challenging is waking up in the morning for school even though I’m not
actually going into school.
Also a disadvantage I have now due to this period of time is I will not be able to go for
my L’s in a month's time because of social distancing rules, which is frustrating but
hopefully everything will be back to normal soon.
Hi! My name’s Sienna Pasitchnyj, a Brigid House leader at Killester.
I’ve been in isolation, like many others, with just my close family. This includes my parents and older brother and, after a while of being in isolation, well, it’s not as exciting as I imagined it would be.
This leads me to why that would be, and I guess I can say that I’m really starting to miss my usual schedule. Of course, my friends, who I am missing so much, my teachers and my sports outside of school. While I’m talking to people daily, whether it’s my friends or teachers in google meets and zoom sessions, this is beginning to feel like the ‘new normal’, which is weird to think.
But, on a more positive note, there is so much I’ve learnt about myself and what I like during isolation, along with lots of things I have enjoyed doing with so much more spare time on my hands! No uniform, free time, independence and no waking up at 6:30am to travel to school! Also, getting so much time to do some of my hobbies which I don’t usually get to do when I’m so busy with school! That’s something I’ve enjoyed the most, being able to pick up my guitar a lot more often!
I’m so grateful to have my teachers at Killester, parents and friends all supporting me and one another during this time. This has been the greatest help ever. What I think is amazing, is the way that Killester has tried to make learning at home as normal as it can be. This helps us keep schedules and on track with all our school work. This kind of normalcy and ‘business as usual’ attitude has helped me a lot, and I’m sure many others, to relieve any worry they might have, be healthy and stay focused.
One of the most challenging things I’ve been faced with because of isolation would probably be keeping to a schedule and staying organised and on top of everything. While I am usually good at that, without seeing my teachers every day telling me what to do, and when, it became up to me to get up and do lots of work every day. People can easily fall into a habit of not doing much, because there is no one to supervise them and tell them what to do, so I feel like isolation was a bit of a test to see if we were strong-willed or not.
Hello I'm Holly and during isolation I've been with my family, which is Mum, Dad and my sister, (not to mention the six birds and rabbit).
I've enjoyed being able to have heaps of time to do things and being able to relax.
I've missed my friends a lot along with athletics.
The most challenging part would be school, personally I've found it hard with the online learning.
Hi my name is Lanah Nguyen and I’m the Year 8 Mackillop leader. For isolation
the people that are at home with me are my Dad, Mum, Leeah(older sister), Emmanuel (younger brother) and Alejandra (younger sister). To keep myself active during isolation is either working out, practicing soccer drills or kicking the footy. I’ve enjoyed working at my own pace, finishing my work, sleeping in and being comfortable in my working area but I do miss working with my friends and getting to see them everyday. The most challenging thing for me is remembering to finish the work that I haven’t completed, to do it the next day and to also fill in the journals.
Hi guys, for those who don’t know me, my name is Natasha Tran. I am in Year 8 and I am a Chisholm House Leader. This is going to be about my isolation/ lockdown. My isolation is going great. I have learnt so many new things like: how to skate, how to make collages for your electronic background and how to cook. I know yeah, COOK. I have been eating a lot of food.I have made so many friends online. How is that! I don’t know.
I have enjoyed being closer to my parents and siblings than I was before. Surprisingly I’m not sick of them yet. Probably the best part about quarantine is spending time with family in my defence. Things I may have missed were having a proper sleep schedule. I think we all have very bad sleep schedules right now, but I may be wrong. Seeing friends and just making memories at school is also a part of something I'm missing. My friends and family have been a huge impact on my isolation, cause without them I would be a real mess right now. The most challenging part about this is not being able to go outside to shop and eat with friends. I hope you guys are doing well and having as much fun as you possibly can. As you guys can read, my isolation is going amazing and I hope it is for you too.
Hi, my name is Mitsuki Otaka from Year 9. This has been such a tough and hard time for all of us, from being able to go wherever and seeing whoever, to instantly not being able to do the things we enjoyed and were used to.
Things that I have enjoyed and the positives about this whole experience was being able to have time for myself and to take things more easily. As I had a pretty tight schedule before, it was nice to be able to just chill and take my time in the things I did. I’ve got to finally learn things that I wasn’t able to start learning before, like playing the guitar and skateboarding.
The things I’ve missed are definitely my friends and doing normal activities. From seeing each other mostly everyday, to not seeing them at all was really hard. I’m thankful for technology, as it played a big part in being able to stay connected to everyone, and to also being able to do school work at home. Not being able to go to school and doing our daily activities were really unusual for me and staying at home all the time bored me out in the first week. It was tricky trying to find things to keep me busy, and that was a daily challenge in itself.
My mum was assisting me most of the time, as my dad still had work. She would always ask if I’m feeling okay and helped me out when I was stuck on something. My friends and teachers also helped me out whenever I had a question on a problem, as I could easily message or email them.
The most challenging thing was being able to stick to a routine when online schooling started. It was hard trying to stay focused when there are so many things around you for you to get distracted from. I wasn’t really motivated in completing tasks at the start, as I was so used to learning at school and it seemed so weird doing it at home. Overall, it was quite an experience and it’s great knowing that we are slowly going to be able to get back into a normal life.
Taegan Truong, Year 9 Chisholm Rep
I actually really enjoyed learning from home since I was able to have a flexible routine. I could do the subjects I wanted to do when I wanted to and I was able to take breaks whenever.
I've missed seeing my friends, but I kept in contact with them by messaging and calling some of them.
I'm home with my dad, who is working from home, my sister who is also doing school from home and my mum who goes to work some days of the week. I get help from them and I also ask my friends and teachers if I need help.
The most challenging thing for me was to keep on track. Sometimes I didn't want to do work but I got into the habit of doing a lot of work at the beginning of the week so then I could relax by the end of the week.
I was confused about how school from home was going to work when it was just being talked about but now it's actually happening it has been a great experience.
I didn't expect a pandemic to take place in 2020 but it has been a very interesting and enjoyable experience.
Hi my name is Olivia Ferry. I enjoy staying at home with my two younger brothers and Mum and Dad. What I have enjoyed most about online school and quarantine is being able to spend time with my family. My family and I have been playing lots of board games and watching lots of movies. It has become a thing that every Friday night our family watches a movie. Although quarantine has some really good aspects about it I do miss a lot of things like, doing school face to face and being able to see my friends every single day. I think being able to see my friends is the biggest thing that I have missed because, although we have facetime, messenger and phone calls, it just isn’t the same.
Another thing I miss is just having freedom, the freedom to go anywhere at any time. Online school is good for me but I could not do it on my own, I had assistance from my parents to help me understand some of my work that I may not fully get. The most challenging thing was not seeing my friends, I definitely did facetime them everyday but not being able to see them was a challenge as I am a very social person. Another thing was I am also a very active, sporty person so not having my Netball games every Saturday was something that challenged me a lot.
Hi, my name is Jessica Ingleby, I am a Year 8 from St Agatha. I live with my Mum, Dad,
younger twin sisters, Grandma, and pet rabbit, Snowy.
Whilst being in isolation I have enjoyed having more time to spend with my family. I am also
able to catch up with friends through video calls. Personally, I find online school much more effective, I am finding that I am completing more work and I can concentrate better working remotely rather than at school.
Throughout these weeks, I have missed my friends, classmates and teachers, I can’t wait to see everyone when we return back to school! Whilst my remote learning has taken place, my parents have assisted me, but I mainly organise my studies and work. The most
challenging part of isolation is not going out and also not being able to see friends,
relatives and others.