For Anna, who has been a student at LVGH since 2011, the closing of our office due to the COVID-19 pandemic took some getting used to. “It wasn’t easy being at home all day and not being in class”, Anna said of that first month before she started online learning. “I was just reading books a lot. So now I am ahead of everyone in book club.”
On any given day, whether it was attending a class or working in the computer lab, you were more likely to find Anna in the office than not. So now, it makes perfect sense that she is taking advantage of just about every online class she can fit into her newly open schedule. “I’m taking two literacy classes and two book clubs,” she told me, before clarifying: “Well, three literacy classes. The one I took last night is new for me.”
Anna moved up to Connecticut from Maryland nine years ago, following an even bigger move from The Gambia a few years prior. She enrolled at LVGH with a goal to improve her reading and writing, and says as long as she keeps improving, she’ll keep coming in. “LVGH feels like a full-time school to me,” she said. “I have the option to take as many classes as I want. If I miss one, there are two or three more I can go to.”
“I miss you guys”, she told us on Zoom when asked about how she’s handling being away from the office. “I call it more like a family to me because everyone is welcoming to everyone. That’s what I miss most all the time. You love your family, but at the same time, people you’re around so much can become your family members. You count them as your own family. That’s what I miss about LVGH”.
We couldn’t agree more! But while we’re safely staying virtual, Anna’s favorite part about online learning? “Everyone is on time!” She laughed, adding, “Coming back online and seeing everyone was a great thing. But now,” she said, holding up an Agatha Christie novel, “I’m going to go read my book before class.”
