by Sicily Houk, Current staff writer
Rolling into the new year, schools are finally ready to open back up. COVID has been tough for everyone and now we are ready to pick up where we left off. The new schedule for this year has many benefits and drawbacks.Many challenges may come with this new schedule due to the aggravating set class times. Although it seems proven that many students are just happy to get back into the school and see their friends and teachers.
The real question is, how do the students feel about this new schedule? Sophomore Elanor Kim replied, “I appreciate the effort to get us back to a somewhat normal schedule, but I feel as though the day is not structured in a way that is productive for students. There are awkward breaks in the day and not enough time for homework.” The schedule is somewhat daunting and not as flexible as they desire. According to junior Kelsey Thomas, ”I am happy to get back out there and see my friends. But the long classes are not the best in my opinion and I do not like the times throughout the day.”
Some students are hesitant about the new schedule, while others like Senior, Grace Hull are ecstatic,” I love that we get to go to school even if it is two days a week. As a senior I feel like my final year has been taken from me in a way. I am very happy to at least make some memories in the time I have left here.”
Looking back at the old schedule it was hard to do everything online and get school work done on time. Many students were turning work in late and grades were dropping drastically. It is quite hard to learn new concepts such as math and english online. Also,the social time needed to keep people in a good mood and energized to take on the day was lost in virtual school.In addition Kelsey says, ”Seeing my friends and getting to socialize is what makes school all more bearable.”
Juniors and seniors are already intimidated by having to pick colleges and figure out their future going into the real world.Grace feeling the stress agrees,” High school is coming to an end for me. All I can say is that I am terrified to be going to college. All the stress from dealing with the school work and knowing i’m off to the real world is taking a toll on me.”
Going back into the schools will give everyone the opportunity to meet new people and get back out there. Although the stress may seem overwhelming for many students, many other students have been getting depressed and a sense that they are lonely. Human interaction makes life easier for many. Finally getting to see people and be surrounded by your peers can do a lot for people. So overall looking at how people may feel about this schedule it’s a rollercoaster of emotions. Many are happy and overjoyed to be seeing other faces and getting to go to school. Seniors can have a portion of their last year in person for some days which may seem small to some but is a greatly big deal to them. Juniors being stressed about college and the real world may feel pressured by this new schedule and seem to not be happy with the time zones. Freshmen and sophomores are spending their first years of high school virtual.
Clearly, there are mixed feelings about returning to school. Some dislike it while others are ready to storm into that school and take it on. There are many different factors to this and nobody expects it to be easy, with all the complications this past year has been throwing at us all, it is safe to say that we are all taking it day by day.