I was a robot in middle school. I told anyone who asked that my 11-year-old self was completely normal. I was diagnosed with a rare bone cancer and had to go through nine months of treatment. I had hospital visits, needle pokes, and days when I felt too sick to look at food.
My main concern was that I couldn't attend school because of my illness. Most of the activities available were coloring books and plastic toys. It wasn't much different to the learning I wanted. The nurses and doctors made me miss my friends a lot.
I missed playing tic-tac-toe with my friends and eating lunch in the crowded cafeteria. The longest assembly would feel like a blessing. In the hospital, I couldn't think of a reason to love school.
The VGo is a telepresence robot that the hospital gave me.
The VGo was the best option for me. I maneuvered it from an iPad at home or in the hospital to attend my classes. I was able to attend clubs, talk to my teachers, and eat lunch with my friends. I went back to school the next year after finishing sixth grade.
My win was brief. The epidemic began a year and a half later.
People often ask me how online classes compare to the VGo, and I can say that the VGo was ahead of its time. Virtual classes were more robotic than an actual robot.
Virtual classes made it possible for people who were in the hospital to attend school. Those with low immune systems were able to attend online school with their peers, even though Covid-19 was not a good friend.
What did happen when schools reopened again?
The head of the middle school in Houston is Chia-Chee Chiu. She was one of the people who introduced the VGo to my school. She said that the VGo was a huge improvement over a simple video call.
She says you are stationary on zoom. Class ends when class ends. You were there virtually, moving from class to class, and your friends in the hallway could talk to you. They could talk to you in the class.
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