Back to School in a Pandemic

Posted on January 17, 2021

By Mikayla Wabe

Although many of us are still learning through remove instruction, many schools world-wide have returned to in-person instruction. In this post, I will talk about my experience going back.

Going back to school was a very exciting thing to think about. Personally, I've always loved school. I missed interacting with my teachers and peers. It started to feel very lonely at home, starting at a computer screen all day.

My school started returning in person when the first semester started. We went every day, just like normal. It remained like this for two months. Over those two months, I met a lot of new people, learned a lot, and made new friends. Even though there were a few bad days, my time at school was mostly fun, as we lived everyday like it was our last day there. We kept in mind that the school could shut down any moment - and it did.

On November 1st, we started our two month quarantine. Everyone's smiles dropped when we figured out we'd be out for "two weeks", worried it'd end up like last time when we were told we'd be out for two weeks but ended up being out for the rest of the year. Everyone said goodbyes and prepared ourselves for remote learning.

Remote learning was really tough for me. My grades that grading quarter stayed up, in fact, they were higher than last quarter. However, it was really hard to pay attention in class. With so many distractions such as my phone, the noises outside, or even just the sound of my fish tank filter, it was hard to listen and absorb the information the teacher was putting down. It was also hard seeing my friends and others struggle, so, over the quarantine, I joined the Iridium Tutoring team to help to the best of my ability.

Remote learning was also hard socially. Despite talking to many people at school, I only have a couple friends I talk to outside of school. Without that every day social interaction, especially face to face, life started to feel extremely lonely and isolated. The days seemed to repeat themselves over and over again.

Now, in January, I am currently attending school in person again on Mondays and Wednesdays. Many people have decided to stay home so there is still that lonely factor, however, returning has given me a sense of hope and normality again.

What I want you to know is that you are not alone. Students from all over the globe are feeling the same way. Life throws us curve balls all the time. The best thing we can do is sit back, relax, and hit them the other way. We can achieve this by joining social groups (there are a lot out there!) to feel supported, using our academic resources to keep our studies up, and not letting those distractions get the best of us. We will all make it through this - keep your head up!