Since the outbreak of COVID-19, have you grown closer to your loved ones? Has your life changed since staying indoors? 

Many students find themselves called upon during the day to help around the house, take care of younger siblings, or take more responsibilities than ever before, all while they are still going to school remotely. 

“For me it’s been stressful managing my school work and helping around the house simultaneously,”  said senior Alejandra Salazar.

Alejandra said that it is hard to manage her time because her family needs so much extra assistance at home.

“ In the morning I feed the dogs and let the chickens out,” she said. “My family had an alternate switch on who does the dishes, it changes every day.”

Similar to Alejandra, junior Luisa Soto and senior Maria Brambila are experiencing challenges due to taking care of their younger siblings.

Luisa has two younger siblings. One sibling is 9 years old and the youngest is 6 months old.    

“I take care of them the whole day, making sure they eat, and are doing their online schooling while my parents are at work,” Luisa said.

At first, Luisa found it hard to finish her school assignments on time because of juggling family needs. Then, another family member stepped in, which helped.

“The help of my other sister has given me has made life easier for me during distance learning,” Luisa said. 

Maria also helps take care of younger siblings and nephews, and took on additional responsibilities from her older sister, who headed off to college this year.

Maria takes care of her two younger nephews, ages 10- and 12-years-old.

“Even though I do get stressed in the moment, it has not created any long term challenges,” Maria said. “The only challenge that I come across as a consequence of babysitting is having less time to complete homework during tutorial.” 

Having multiple things to do on top of the school workload can seem overwhelming, but students said the key to success is to create a plan that carves out time early or at the end of the day to complete work. And, they appreciate that despite the challenges, they  enjoy the company nestled at home.