About a month ago, I had a chat with my friend during play rehearsal about her distance learning. She had been absent from classes since first quarter, but would show up for almost every rehearsal; after I was certain it wasn't my imagination, I decided to confront her about it: "Where have you been?" I asked, "I noticed you haven't been in Musical Theatre class, but you still show up here. Is something wrong?" She laughed and told me that nothing was wrong, and she was just distance learning. Her response prompted me to ask her several questions about how that would work. Admittedly, I was a bit skeptical of it at first, but I quickly learned that learning from home has its benefits! Many students would benefit from distance learning.

In my little interview with my friend, I learned why she personally began attending classes from home: near the beginning of the school year, she became very overwhelmed by the workload it brought and began having severe panic attacks, sending her into a downward spiral that prevented her from getting her schoolwork done. Fortunately, school administrators recognized this and recommended she try distance learning. She was glad they did, because up to the day of our conversation, she had been learning from home ever since, only going to school occasionally to take tests or submit projects that couldn't be submitted online. She told me that she benefited from taking most of her classes at home, because she didn't have to face the pressure of keeping up with her classmates, for she could just learn at her own pace. This allowed her to focus on her work and enjoy coming to school for rehearsal; she and school administrators expected that by April, she wouldn't need to stay at home anymore.

Something she told me that really amazed me was the fact that my friend was doing great in Musical Theatre. I didn't think distance learning would be beneficial for the class, because most of it is performances and workshops, where students learn ensemble numbers, workshop each other's audition pieces, and perform those auditions in front of the class. The fact that my friend was taking Musical Theatre from home goes to show that, even for a class so dependent on the presence of other people, students can still perform well while learning a majority of the curriculum in someplace other than a classroom (or, in the case of a Musical Theatre class, a black box).

My friend helped me realize that distance learning is more useful than it may seem. For example, even if it is helpful to be taught by a teacher in-person, I may find it difficult to keep up with lectures or notes, because of distracting friends, cold classrooms, and the inability to go to the bathroom whenever I want. Sometimes I need more time to process the topic for the day, or I may need to relearn the material in a room where I can adjust the thermostat. These are all benefits of learning at home!

People who don't have an official distance learning plan administrated to them still take advantage of the good work that comes from learning outside of the classroom. Chances are -- you already do that, whenever you spend your time at home to review your notes again, ask your sibling for clarification, or watch some educational videos on YouTube. Distance learning, officially administrated plan or not, helps students like you, me, and my friend learn at their own paces and from the comfort of their homes.