With the second semester starting back up, students are reacclimating to the school environment. Some students are having a harder time of this than others, having to readjust to an in-person school environment after spending the first semester on Zoom. While many students say they are glad to be back, they also say they are facing unforeseen challenges.
“I’m so tired,” junior Vivian Kaldahl said. “You have to interact with a lot more people, which takes more energy than I remembered.”
Sophomore Aidan Gamble said he agrees that physically being in school is more draining than being home.
“Having to walk long distances between classes is making me more tired than normal,” he said. The physical effort of being at school takes an unexpected toll on the body.
Returning students say they are also noticing that they have to put in more effort outside of the school day.
“It is easier to manage time at home, and I felt like I got more done because I wasn’t always in class,” junior Maddy Leland said. “I got off Zoom, then I could work on homework.”
Freshman Cassandra Thompson said she agrees.
“In school, it’s much more strict, and when you’re at home, there’s a lot more leeway,” she said. Classes often get started a few minutes after the bell, and this year teachers have to wrap up early to sanitize their rooms for the next group of students. All of these small chunks of time add up for remote learners, allowing them more time to work during the school day.
On top of this, assignments are occasionally modified to work over Zoom. Remote students may have a version of an activity that is cut down for practicality. Leland said,
“There is a lot of modification that goes on, especially since not all the kids are online,” Leland said. “Teachers sometimes forget about Zoom students, but I know they’re trying their best,” she said.
Gamble said, “You can’t do a lot through a computer. It is hard to interact with other students, so we sometimes get left out of group activities.”
As hard as teachers are trying, lessons translate differently online versus in school, causing a rift in comprehension. For some remote learners such as senior Eleora Timberlake, this was a factor in the decision to return to in-person school.
“I wasn’t retaining information very well, and I felt generally sluggish,” Timberlake said.
One upside of school is it keeps students moving and interacting all day. Thompson said,
“The best thing about being at school is being able to socialize,” Thompson said.
With restrictions from the pandemic, many aspects of regular teenage life are already taken from students. For those who are able to attend school in person, it is a way to keep a sense of normalcy and create and enforce bonds with peers that help build who they are. It is safe to say that learning from home is vastly different than being in a classroom. While both options are valid, returning students are relieved to be back.
“If I had stayed home any longer, I would feel like I missed an entire year of high school,” Kaldahl said.
