My name is Ivania Monterroso, I have been at the JC for 3 years. I started in an ESL noncredit class and now I am an ESL10 transfer-level English student. I’m married with two kids. My daughter is 16 years old and my son is 6 years old. When we started the shelter-in-place I never thought how difficult it could be. I could talk endlessly about the negative things. I have to help my six-year-old son with his homework, and I have to handle my teenage daughter and all of her problems. I’m an extremely social person and it’s hard having to be at home all day. Unfortunately, the pandemic isn’t something that anyone can control and I’ve tried making the best out of it. My classes take up a huge part of my time and as a student, the pandemic has been a little difficult to deal with. I love going to the JC and taking classes that interest me. I consider it “my time” to just enjoy something. My classes were normally in the morning so after that, I used to just stay in the Barnett Center doing homework or taking advantage of the tutor’s help. The first week of online class was normal and new for students and teachers but after the first week, we started being assigned more projects and homework to do. Like I said before, I used to stay after class to complete my homework and now I have to wait until everyone at home is sleeping to get the quiet I need to concentrate. Unfortunately doing homework at night isn’t the most convenient because I also feel tired and I end up messing up my sleep schedule. It’s hard not having a face to face interactions with teachers, tutors or classmates. After all, we are learning a second language and sometimes the technology doesn’t let you express how you feel when you don’t understand something. I used to always complain about never having enough time to do things. I’m a full-time mom, college student and religion teacher at my church. But now I have all the time in the world. I’ve been able to spend a lot of time in the kitchen where I cook three meals a day. I also remembered how much I love baking so now I have a lot of time to bake and I took the time to learn how to make bread. My family loves it and it tastes so much better than the bread we buy at the store. I’ve also been able to work in my other hobbies, like makeup. I’ve also been able to try out new makeup products and just get ready whenever I want without having to go anywhere. I truly forgot how passionate I am about so many things and best of all, I’ve just been able to relax and not have to feel the constant rush of having to do things.
