by Mugdha Chiplunkar
“What could be worse than online school?” I asked myself, and my question was answered shortly after I moved to a different city – being a new student in online school.
For the first few weeks, I was completely lost. I had no idea how to use anything Microsoft, I couldn’t remember what teacher taught what, I didn’t know anything about any online gradebook. It had been less than a month and I was already struggling.
Amidst this chaos, I signed up for Splash 2020, my first ESP program. I was excited, but also very skeptical about my classes. How much would I learn in just a couple of one-hour sessions? Should I be doing schoolwork instead?…
But when the classes began I realized that there was so much more to take in than just content.
Seeing students just a little older than me doing amazing things, in an online setting, gave me a lot of inspiration and much-needed motivation. Although everything was online, there was still so much that I could do. I could learn new things, do art, and volunteer, all the while making the best of the situation. And when I did, or at least tried to, I realized that I could do a lot of things, and that I was not alone in this unusual situation.
Splash 2020 was a memorable experience for me not only because I got to produce some aesthetic lofi hip-hop (!!!) but also because it showed me that there are so many possibilities as to what you can do, using everything you are to become everything you want to be, and that’s something I’ll keep in mind forever.
The Ripple 