The school year usually brings months of all work and no play, but for freshman Kate Butterworth, online school allowed for a more idyllic start to her first year at Marshall.
Butterworth said she traveled to Myrtle Beach in early September with a friend’s family. But, because the school year had begun, she still woke up early every morning to log into her classes.
“I did do school at the beach,” Butterworth said. “I felt like I was able to balance the work pretty well, surprisingly. It was not that stressful. It made it feel like I wasn’t really on vacation because so much of the day was school and I was inside.”
Senior Veena Larsen said she took a trip in early September to Miami to visit her older sister. Larsen said that while school impacted the time she could relax with her sister, she still enjoyed the trip.
“Because of school, I didn’t get to spend time with [my sister] as I would have liked to,” Larsen said. “I had my classes until 3 p.m., after which my sister and I tanned at the pool and went for a swim […] We [also] walked around Miami, got some bubble tea and then finished the day off playing Catan.”
Butterworth said she was grateful to be at the beach, during the school year, despite the pandemic.
“The best part [of the trip] was the whole fact that I was able to be at the beach at all,” Butterworth said. “I thought I wouldn’t be able to because of COVID.”