Since the first-ever virtual class was held in the spring, students living in time zones outside of the United States East Coast have had to handle additional complications. Now that all classes are held synchronously, these struggles have only been amplified.

Hill’s adjusted policy regarding learning states that, for these students, the last commitment ends at 10 p.m. local time. For Nathan Hoang ’21, an international student from Vietnam who has spent his entire year so far from home, his academic schedule starts by logging onto Zoom at 8:35 p.m. ICT and off at 9:55 p.m from Monday night to Friday night. 

“With a time difference of 12 hours, taking classes online has been a challenge even during junior spring since it’s a bit hard to focus for classes such as math or science when it’s time for you to watch Netflix in bed,” said Hoang.

However, this adjusted schedule has some perks. 

“Having only one class a day, to be fair, is kind of nice, especially when we have the option to choose if we want to continue with the second class or not. Of course, it is not like we just don’t have to do the work for the other classes that we don’t attend on that day; instead, we still have to find time to watch the class’s recording at our own time. I think it’s a lot more independent learning and requires a lot more self-discipline,” according to Hoang. 

With a more flexible schedule compared to his American peers, Hoang is able to adjust his time according to the schedule of his desire. 

“For most of the days, I wake up naturally so I have enough sleep to last me through the day for academic work, workouts, and college essays. I think this online learning schedule really eased the tension for what’s supposed to be a really stressful senior year especially when we have to work on our college essays and stuff. Now, I can take classes at the pace of my desire and have a lot more time to craft my college essays.” 

However, not everything is sunshine and rainbows for online learning. Extracurricular and leadership opportunities have not been the same as during a normal school year. Hoang, as a prefect who has been doing virtual school since the beginning of the school year, doesn’t feel like he has made the same connection to his prefectees as the last school year. 

“Prefect duty doesn’t feel the same and it’s hard to get involved. In fact, I miss emails sometimes because of all the college spam and things feel overwhelming. It’s also hard since I didn’t get to meet the kids at the start of the year so I couldn’t really connect with them.” 

While, for Hoang, his +12-from-Pottstown status comes with pros and cons, no matter the time zone, Hill students all over the globe are navigating unique challenges during these three weeks of remote classes.