DOWNS.
OUR REHEMA ELLIS CAUGHT UP WITH
THEM TO DISCUSS LESSONS LEARNED
AND WHATS AHEAD.
>> Reporter: ALL ACROSS THE
COUNTRY, STUDENTS HAVE BEEN
TESTED LIKE NEVER BEFORE.
>> I WOULD SAY OVERWHELMING.
>> I WAS STRUGGLING ALL THE
TIME.
>> THE VERY BEGIN, EVERYTHING
WAS VERY CHAOTIC.
>> Reporter: SINCE THE BEGINNING
OF THE SCHOOL YEAR WEVE BEEN
FOLLOWING MORE THAN A DOZEN HIGH
SCHOOL STUDENTS THROUGHOUT THE
NATION.
>> IT WAS GOOD TO BE BACK.
>> Reporter: THEIR CHALLENGES
WERE BOTH ACADEMIC AND
EMOTIONAL.
WHAT THREE WORDS WERE YOU USE TO DESCRIBE THE SCHOOL YEAR?
DESCRIBE THE SCHOOL YEAR?
>> UNPRECEDENTED, CAN A OTHAOTIC
BIT STRESSFUL.
>> STRESSFUL, DIFFERENT, KIND OF
RELENTLESS.
>> Reporter: WERE THERE MOMENTS
THAT WERE OVERWHELMING?
>> YEAH.
THERE WERE ACTUALLY SOME NIGHTS
WHERE I HAVE CRIED OVER EXACTLY
THAT.
>> Reporter: AT THE BEGINNING OF
THE SCHOOL YEAR, MANY WERE
OPTIMISTIC.
>> I FEEL LIKE ITS JUST GOING
TO BE FINE.
>> Reporter: HOWEVER, AS EARLY
AS OCTOBER, A WAVE OF ANXIETY
HIT.
CONSTANTLY DEALING WITH GLITCHES
ONLINE.
>> THE WHOLE THING WOULD KICK ME
OUT AND SAY "YOUR CONNECTION WAS
LOST".
>> Reporter: SOME ONLY HAD
CONNECTION ON CELL PHONES.
>> ITS HARD FOR ME BECAUSE I
CANT SIT AND STARE AT ONE THING
FOR A LONG AMOUNT OF TIME.
>> Reporter: IT GOT EVEN HARDER
BY DECEMBER, AS SCHOOLS WENT
THROUGH A MIX OF REMOTE AND
IN-PERSON LEARNING.
STUDENTS FELT DISCONNECTED FROM
SCHOOL AND CLASSMATES.
>> ITS KIND OF BEEN A WEIRD
TRANSITION.
IT JUST FEELS EMPTY.
LIKE HALF OF THE STUDENTS ARE
THERE.
>> Reporter: TWO MONTHS LATER IN
FEBRUARY, STUDENTS WERE STILL
MOSTLY REMOTE AND STILL ON EDGE.
>> BASICALLY IT SUCKS.
>> WERE ALL REALLY STRUGGLING.
>> IVE NEVER FELT SO MUCH
STRESS IN ONE SCHOOL YEAR.
>> Reporter: FOR MANY, HOW THEY
ATTENDED SCHOOL WAS OFTEN
SHIFTING.
THIS MAP SHOWS THE CHANGES
WEEK-TO-WEEK ACROSS THE COUNTRY,
DISTRICT MOVING FROM FULLY
REMOTE IN BLUE TO HYBRID IN
YELLOW TO IN-PERSON IN GREEN AND
SOMETIMES BACK.
LOOKING BACK AT VIDEO CLIPS,
STUDENTS LIKE OHIO FRESHMAN CAM
MILLER SAW THEMSELVES
STRUGGLING.
>> JUST ROUGH.
ITS HARD TO -- FRUSTRATING.
THATS WHAT I SHOULD SAY.
ITS VERY FRUSTRATING.
>> Reporter: YOUR ACTION, CAM?
>> I DO REMEMBER HOW I FELT IN
THAT MOMENT.
AND IT DID SUCK.
>> Reporter: FOR ALLEGRA, A
JUNIOR IN CHICAGO, IT WAS
OVERWHELMING.
>> I REALLY STRUGGLED.
>> I KNOW I WAS UPSET AND
STRESSED, BECAUSE I WAS SCARED
THAT -- I DIDNT KNOW WHAT WAS
GOING ON, OR HOW TO DO THE
ASSIGNMENT.
>> Reporter: DID YOU FEEL YOU
WERE ON THE EDGE OF A BREAKDOWN?
>> THIS WAS THE BREAKDOWN.
IT WAS ONE OF THE TWO BREAKDOWNS
I HAD DURING THE SCHOOL YEAR.
>> Reporter: WHEN JOHN, OUR
JUNIOR IN PENNSYLVANIA SAW
HIMSELF ACRES NOD ACKNOWLEDGING
WHERE HE WAS.
>> I FEEL DISHEARTENED, AND I
FEEL SORT OF LIKE EVERYTHING IS
OUT OF CONTROL, AND I JUST KIND
OF HAVE TO HOLD ON AS TIGHT AS I
CAN.
>> Reporter: JOHNS GRADES
SLIPPED AND SO DID HIS SELF EST
ESTEEM.
WHEN YOU WATCH THIS HAD I SAW
YOUR FACE AND YOU GOT TENSE.
>> I FELT THOSE LOADS, LIKE A
WAS PUNCHING A BRICK WALL.
TRYING MY ABSOLUTE HARDEST AND
GETTING NOTHING IN RETURN.
>> Reporter: THAT FEELING DIDNT
LAST.
HE AND OTHER STUDENTS LEARNED
HOW TO ADJUST.
>> I DIDNT JUST LEARN HOW TO
ADAPT TO MAKE MY GRADES BETTER,
BUT HOW TO ADAPT FOR MYSELF AND
MAKE MYSELF HAPPY.
>> ITS CHANGED SOME OF US FOR
THE BETTER, SOME OF US FOR THE
WORST.
THIS HAS BEEN A REALLY FORMATIVE
TIME PERIOD FOFRR ALL OF US.
>> Reporter: FINDING WAYS TO
COPE.
>> TAKE A BREAK, PUT DOWN THE
COMPUTER FOR 30 MINUTES.
>> LEARNING NOT TO BE AS FROM US
FRUSTRATED AS EASY AS I USED TO
BE.
>> Reporter: KNOWING WHAT YOU
KNOW NOW, WHAT WOULD YOU TELL
YOURSELF OF NINE MONTHS AGO?
>> I WOULD SAY NOTHING CAN BE
PERFECT, AND YOU SHOULD ACCEPT
AND EXPECT CHANGE.
>> DONT LET THINGS HOLD YOU
BACK AND FAILURES HOLD YOU BACK.
USE IT AS LEARNING EXPERIENCES.
IT JUST TAKES PERSEVERANCE AND