Junior Lote Stark’s life changed since the coronavirus pandemic made its way to Hawaii. The Department of Education first announced that spring break would be extended, but as the number of COVID-19 cases rose in Hawaii, public schools closed for the rest of the year.

“At first I was kind of glad, because at the time, the break was only extended one week. But the longer it got extended, the more sad I got,” Stark said. “The extended break pretty much took away everything that I looked forward to in life.”

Stark planned to participate in track for the first time this spring. However, before spring break started, the Hawaii High School Athletic Association announced that interscholastic competition would be suspended indefinitely due to the crisis.

“I was disappointed when I found out this season was cut short, especially since this is my first year in track,” Stark said. “Also, since sports were like the number one thing I looked forward to every day, it’s been a real bummer not being able to go to practice with my teammates.” 

With schools closed, teachers switched to remote learning. Online assignments were not a new concept for students, but doing it as the only method of learning had pros and cons.

“With online classes, you don’t have the teacher with you, so if you were to have questions, you would have to wait for the teacher to respond to your email, which could be a while depending on how available your teacher is,” Stark said. “Online classes are helpful with organization, though. Since everything is digital, you won’t have to worry about losing any assignments.”

Besides lamenting the lost track season and completing assignments, Stark still said she managed to have fun.

“I’ve been playing a LOT of video games. I’ve been switching from my phone, to the wii, to the nintendo switch, and all the way around again,” Stark said.

Stark said she missed going to school.

“I miss it EXTREMELY. I really miss seeing all my friends. I miss going to class, seeing my teachers, and learning new things from them every day. I miss going to practice for any sport and improving my skills every day,” Stark said.

Changes in structure and information were made on 5/18/2020.