Online classes are offered by some schools, but I they should be offered by all.

The benefit to students is undeniable and should be implemented on a larger scale. The tragic story of my childhood best friend, Generic_Name, proves that having the opportunity to take classes from home is a massive benefit to students through his depression, anxiety, and desire to succeed.

When I first met my soon to be best friend, Generic_Name, he was a shy but infectiously funny guy.

It amazed me how Generic_Name used to get through any tough situation life would throw at him with humor.

Given his personality, anyone would be hard pressed to label me a fool for being blind sighted by the changes he would go through.

He started to lose his love for life and comedy.

He started going out less and lost motivation to even get out of bed.

Generic_Name was diagnosed with clinical depression.

Before long he started missing school because of it. It started out as only once in a while, but gradually grew to become agonizingly frequent.

Generic_Name was missing more school than he could afford, and he soon went on to miss an entire semester.

For months, Generic_Name could not summon the strength nor the will to get out of bed in the morning.

He was put into a negative feedback loop in which the more school he missed, the worse he felt.

This would in turn make him miss more school and continute on this downward spiral.

His academic life was in ruins, but what got to him more than that was his social life.

Little would I have suspected, Generic_Name, concurrently with depression, suffered from extreme anxiety.

Social situations were in no respect his forte.

While this in itself is not too terribly terrific, it is not that abnormal.

What very few one knew was that his anxiety was made worse many times over by missing so much school.

It was obvious to him that if he went back, he would have to explain his absence and thus expose his depression.

The thought of all of his peers knowing about his depression exacerbated his anxiety and depression symptoms even further.

At this point, Generic_Name was in a ruined and defeated psychological state with no apparent light at the end of the tunnel.

However, his fierce desire to not fall behind me and his other classmates, graduate on time, and go to college would soon rout the depressed mindset that had occupied his mind for so long.

Generic_Name's deep seated, but dormant desire to succeed was awakened during the summer after his school year of half attendance.

He was on track to not be able move up to the next grade with all our peers.

This concept stoked the flames of perseverance and determination that would soon burn brightly.

He was approached by the school and was offered the opportunity to take the classes he needed to graduate from his grade online.

This was absolutely a perfect solution for all of Generic_Name's problems that were bogging him down.

Since he did not need to even get out of bed to take his classes, he was able to complete them without fail.

In addition to the feasibility of completing the classes, he wouldn't need to explain his absence to classmates while trying to focus on a lesson.

These two lifelines granted to him by the opportunity of online classes gave him exactly what he needed to get his life back on track.

The new year came and Generic_Name was in our grade, taking classes with us, and back to his old humorous self. It was truly a miracle.

Generic_Name told me years later how grateful he was for being granted the opportunity to take online classes.

Without them, he feels that he would be nothing in life and might not have even been alive at all.

Generic_Name was someone who was drowning in a sea of their depression, anxiety, and negative thoughts, but was thrown a life preserver in the form of online classes.

Generic_Name is not alone is his experience, and had not had the opportunity for online classes, who is to say what would have become of him.

Online classes directly benefit students who need them and can many times put their lives back on track.

The notion that online classes are not helpful to students is shortsighted and detrimental to students who need them the most like Generic_Name.

If righting a derailed train car that is the life of a student is not benefit for students, I would like for someone to tell me what is.