Thomas Jefferson students re-connecting together in-person again. photo courtesy of Thomas Jefferson Yearbook staff
Under the hardships of online school, many of us were forced into developing a new routine, and yet again students are struggling to readjust to their once normal routine.
For many of us, quarantine and online school was the first major transition of our lives. Going from a daily routine of waking up and going to school, to practically living inside was beyond anything any of us could have imagined. In spite of the magnitude of this change, we found ways to adjust and develop routines, and for some of us, online school was a haven for comfort in a student’s learning environment. Now, a year and a half later, students are again finding themselves pulled out of their comfort zone as they return to school in person.
There is no doubt that the first couple of months transitioning into online school was a struggle; the separation once there between school and home life was completely demolished. We were no longer able to rely on peers for social and academic support, and the daily routine we had all grown so accustomed to was quickly forgotten, although, as things progressed, we became accustomed to this new way of life. I, for one, ended up finding more comfort during the turmoil of quarantine than I previously had before the pandemic. I had the time to schedule my days; specifically I was able to allot much-needed time to my mental and physical health, while still staying on top of academics. The extra time gave me the opportunity to discover my true interests outside of school and grow on a personal level. It was as though quarantine gave me the opportunity to find myself, as well as a routine that genuinely worked for me. Online learning, while not at all ideal, turned out to be a blessing in disguise for myself and many others who needed an opportunity to focus on their well-being.
Despite having all gone through the same situation of quarantine and online school, each of us had our own individual experiences and perspectives throughout. Senior David Price recalls one of the biggest hardships of online school was “not being able to interact with some of the people I was good friends with and used to see every day. It was weird to have so many people in my life just taken out.” During online school, the only real connection students had with peers was through a computer screen, looking at their google meet icons. Price also found comfort in prioritizing himself and his health as he began to adjust to the new way of schooling. “I was able to work on myself more and still made sure I was waking up early for school, so I didn’t fall too far out of my old routine.” For many students, one of the most efficient ways of transitioning smoothly between in-person and online school was keeping parts of their old routine intact, such as waking up early or doing an activity at the same time every day, but this integration of routine not only helped with moving from in-person to online, but has also helped students adjust back into in-person schooling after over a year and a half away from the building.
Similar to the first few months of online school, adjusting back to in-person learning has been a struggle for many. Again, while many students see this return as a blessing, others are anxious to have their daily routines upended once again. I found myself dreading coming back in person, which was weird considering just a year and a half ago I felt the same way towards online school. It was not that I was not happy about going back to school, I was excited to see my peers again and have a greater opportunity to grow socially, but the uncertainty of how I was going to react to the “new” environment of in-person learning brought a newfound level of discomfort. Similar to how I felt about coming back in person, Price admits he “was nervous coming back to school, [and] just didn’t have any idea what to expect. I just forgot how it felt to be at school.”
At first, one of the most noticeable differences between online and in-person school had nothing to do with school itself, but instead revolved around the in-person social connection we had grown so far away from. It was definitely intimidating being around so many people again. Even people I used to talk to on a daily basis seemed like strangers to me, and it was as though I forgot how to interact with others face-to-face. As Price recalls, “I felt a lot more socially awkward. I was just so used to being in my bedroom and working alone on all my work, and now we’re doing partner projects so it’s definitely a big adjustment.”
While the social effects of quarantine may have been expected, the academic effects of quarantine and online school were a consequence none of us saw coming. In all honesty, online school was probably the lightest workload I have ever had. Not only did we have less work, but there was also less class time, which gave us much more time to get our homework done as opposed to now. Despite how long it has been since students were burdened with an in-person workload, one cannot help but feel as though students have been thrust into the deep end with little to no adjustment time. In my first two weeks alone I had three major projects assigned after having done the least amount of work in my entire school career the year prior. The intense stress students have faced coming into in-person school has made it extremely difficult to comfortably adjust and find a new routine. Nevertheless, just as we were in quarantine, we are all going through this transition together, only now we have the opportunity to support each other in person.
You would think that after more than ten years of the same daily routine a year and a half of abnormality would not cause people to forget how life once was, yet that’s exactly what has happened to people all over the world. Just as we, eventually, became used to the “new normal” of quarantine, we will again adapt to integrating back into the real world, and the lives we found ourselves living in quarantine will be a blur.
