Returning to the new normal
BDP staff
This school year was going to be different. Students were coming back after a year of Zoom classes and mask mandates after a summer of more relaxed Covid restrictions. Some people had concerns, others had more frustrations, and most were more optimistic that this would be the best school year yet.
“This is the frustrating part, especially after experiencing months of class in my bed. It’s hard to sit straight and pay attention for a straight six hours,” junior Jerry Lu said as the 2021-2022 school year began.
At the beginning of the year many people had concerns aligned with those of Jerry.
“For the first week I actually did sense a mild unease in the air with the other students. It feels like that many people, including myself, seemed to have gotten a lot more comfortable over the summer with the idea that masks will be going away,” Gabe Campbell said.
Many people were concerned about others, including Ted Hyngstrom. “I'm scared of two things,” Ted said, “having to go back to online classes and a mutation of the virus that gets younger people like me really sick.” And it makes sense that people like George Frech were worried “.about a big breakout happening and having to go back online.”
Masks were on everybody’s mind in September 2021.
“I’m most frustrated about the masks just because I'm a happy person and I love seeing other people happy,” Olivia Cowan said. “So it's hard not to be able to communicate with others through facial expressions.”
CJ Stokes agrees. “The hardest part has to be masks. It's difficult to hear those around us. And it gets even harder when we're in a crowded situation like the classroom or cafeteria.”
This new school year also brought some new frustrations to light. Ted Hyngstrom was “frustrated about two main ideas in particular: people I know not getting facts because of misinformation and people not wearing their masks while indoors.” At the beginning of the year there was, a lot of information and misinformation floating around, and it was unclear what was true. This definitely caused more conflict in school than there had been in the past.
“Certain people who don't have the vaccine should definitely wear a mask and in some locations we should all definitely wear a mask,” Benji Gillespie said.
Students were also hopeful that adults would act in terms of the circumstances. Ted Hyngstrom said, “Something I want adults to know is that this pandemic changed all of our lives. And if a few adults keep spreading misinformation and lies and deception around – such as banning mask mandates – that almost certainly will affect everyone, including us.”
While Olivia Cowan feels that the school’s Covid rules are reasonable, she had some advice for the faculty and administration
“Adults are doing a good job of handling Cove,” Olivia said. “I just want to make sure that they understand that as high schoolers we've never been through this. This is like our peak time to be social and have all of our friends. We also learn through social experiences.”
In terms of Covid, students like Benji Gillespie were hopeful that teachers will, “cut us some slack.”
Though there were many worries and frustrations, the situation had positive outcomes, which made many students optimistic.
“This year back at school, it's the closest we've been to a normal school year since seventh grade, and that was three years ago,” George Frech said. “I’m looking forward to life being more like what it used to be.”
It seems that most students could agree that school is better than quarantine. Though there were some positives to doing classes at home, they would rather be in-person at Judge.
“All in all, I'm worried that this is going to continue for a lot longer than it needs to be,” Gabe Campbell said. “I just want it to be over, and frankly I don't know anyone who disagrees with me.”
