I made the choice to move online two weeks ago after some discussions with my parents and counselor. This decision was tough for me because of the many different benefits of being at school in person.

 I ultimately decided that for me to have the safest chance to play football Friday nights I must move to online school. Currently I am being recruited to play football in college. Because of Covid-19 I was unable to travel to many different universities in the spring and attend their camps in the summer. This lost time provided college coaches much less information about the athletes that they are recruiting; therefore, I realized that my senior film would be critical for me to receive offers to play at the next level.

 With the rules in place regarding positive cases within the school, I put myself at greater risk of missing Friday nights. It is as simple as if I am merely in proximity to someone with Covid-19, I will miss two weeks of football. Those two weeks are two weeks where I could be leading my team and gathering film for colleges rather than watching from a distance. This year being my last in a Cathedral football jersey is too meaningful for me to continue in-person schooling for the first quarter.

 The decision to move online makes day-to-day classes in some ways easier and other ways more difficult. I find it easier to be organized and have my work ready to go as I attend each class. I have less stress in waking up and driving to school every day (although I do make the trip each day for football practice), saving me some time to sleep.

 While there are perks to being online, to apply myself and contribute in class can be hard at times and distractions are everywhere. Concentration is perhaps the most difficult part as it is common to feel like you are not part of the class, but just watching. Self-discipline is needed to be online as the pace of school differs greatly from that of last spring, when the entire school was online.

 Moving online is not something I am completely satisfied with as there are many drawbacks. These missed opportunities include having in-person interactions with my mentees, helping the broadcasting class on a day-to-day basis, and just having general interaction with my peers and teachers.

Being someone who is very involved at Cathedral, sitting at home bothers me, but the possibility that I could miss two weeks of football practice and two varsity games is not worth the risk of coming to school to attend classes in person.