Over the course of 1 year from March of 2020 to March of 2021 I have been adapting constantly to a schedule that changed almost every week. I have had days of learning in person as well as days of learning virtually. I have spent my time divided between two workspaces: my home and my school, each has its benefits and its downfalls.

When at home it was easy to be distracted by family, pets, and other luxuries that most people will indulge in at home. However, I have learned to set aside the time I need and have a dedicated space within to learn. I use a desk with access to the electronics I need and a supporting but not overly comfortable chair. I am next to a window that provides me with sunlight almost every hour of the day and nice scenery outside to ease my stress at times. I had enough space to have my laptop for school as well as my PC for using other features as we were given our laptops at the beginning of our first year and by the time I reached my senior year they were quite outdated.

The main drawback of my home experience is the placement of my learning space. My desk is in a loft that everybody has to pass through when going to any of the upper floor rooms thus I can be distracted or they can be noisy especially when I have had to learn virtually in the same home as my mom who works virtually and has to speak to customers on the phone for the majority of her work days. Despite this though I feel that this never impacted my learning greatly and if needed I could wear headphones or ask that I be given some space.

My learning environment at work is different than that of my home one. When at school I find I am affected by the abrasiveness of the bright lighting, and the white walls with shining white tile floors. The desks are always uncomfortable and tend to not feel like enough space. When in school this year we can only have half as many students in class at a time so it was always empty and felt very depressing to not have the same interaction with other students that we usually should have. The rooms all have layouts specifically designed for learning with the desks facing the board where teachers stand and present material.

The main thing that was provided in in-person learning was the interaction with teachers that was absent before. Students feel more involved in the class when in school and when the teacher is there and readily available to answer any questions.

Overall, the environment of my home may be more comforting but the environment of the school is more efficient for learning.