By Diana Sanchez
COVID has taken its toll on the United States since early 2019 and we are still feeling the effects today. Since the pandemic hit hard last year, we had to do a whole year of school online. However, due to the current situation in New York, this year we are returning to in-person classes. People have had mixed opinions about whether it was better to remain online or to go back in person. There were both positives and negatives to remote learning last year, which definitely affected both students and teachers.
To gain greater insight as to how students have been feeling, I reached out to speak with a few members of our student body. Below are their answers to my questions.
(*Some students chose to not have their name included therefore they are shown as “Student #…)
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Q: How do you feel about coming back to an environment filled with people again after being in quarantine for so long? Do you have a concern about the lack of social distancing or about COVID mandates and protocols?
Student #1: I feel suffocated. Seeing a lot of people brings me both comfort and stress because I’m split between feeling like things are back to normal and feeling out of place.
Briseida: At first coming back to school made me nervous because I knew safety measures had become much more lenient and this made me worried about the amount of sickness that could spread. I was also worried about the amount of people who would not be following the simple things like wearing a mask to school at all times with it covering your nose and mouth.
Person #2: After being quarantined for so long, coming back to an environment filled with people feels a little unfamiliar and strange. During the pandemic, everyone was isolated and could do a limited amount of activities without having contact with others. I have gotten used to being in the comfort of my home so it does feel strange to be around a lot of people
Q: How did this pandemic impact you in terms of realizing how interconnected we are and how each of our decisions and choices impacts each other?
Student #1: This pandemic impacted me a lot, mentally and physically. Distancing myself from my friends and family made me realize how important physical human contact is and how lacking it can affect me negatively.
Briseida: This pandemic helped me realize how much of our daily lives revolves around interacting with others, for example shaking hands when meeting someone or even being able to read people’s lips when you can’t quite hear what they are saying. Therefore when these things were taken away in order to ensure our safety it was difficult to get used to.
Person #2: This pandemic has made me realize that the choices of certain people can make something small become a huge problem. During the pandemic, people had bursts of thoughts and were able to share them with others. People have been more connected online. Many unfortunate things have resulted from the pandemic. Some don’t agree with the precautions that should be taken in this pandemic.
Q: Are you more concerned with your hygiene (ex: washing your hands, sanitizing your hands, taking a shower when you come from work or school)? Are you more careful or aware of who you hang out with?
Student #1: I definitely got more careful about my hygiene. After COVID, I get so tense whenever someone coughs or sneezes around me, and it makes me more aware of how dirty our world is.
Briseida: Yes I am definitely more concerned with wiping down surfaces others have touched and also using much more hand sanitizer daily if I am not able to wash my hands. In school especially since we are all sharing a space I get a little anxious and constantly wipe down my desk or sanitize my hands far more frequently than before the pandemic because of the fear that I might get sick and make others around me sick.
Person #2: The pandemic has made me more concerned with my hygiene. I always keep a hand sanitizer with me and I believe almost everyone does the same. It always comes in handy. Going home I come in contact with people in the buses and trains. When I get home I try not to come in contact with anyone until after I wash my hands with soap.
Q: How do you feel about the school’s handling of the pandemic, as well as the protocols?
Student #1: The school is handling it pretty well. Our school is mostly clean so I don’t think we need to worry too much.
Briseida: I think the schools are handling it as best they can, they can only put in place so many protocols before people start ignoring them. I am especially happy to see there is hand sanitizer in every classroom to ensure that our hands are always clean and the wipes that are available for those who would like to take an extra measure and wipe their desks.
Person #2: I believe that the school is handling the pandemic really well. The teachers always tell students to put their masks on all the time. There are extra masks if a student doesn’t have one available. The protocols are easy to follow. The protocols of the schools have made a huge difference in the number of Covid-19 cases.
Q: If you were to have a say in the protocols that the school had to put into place, what would you do to keep the community safe?
Student #1: To social distance maybe. We’re all pretty much bunched up but I guess that’s kind of a problem because we have a big school with a lot of kids so there’s not much we can do about it.
Briseida: I think a good protocol to put in place would to also test kids who are vaccinated because the vaccine does not protect against getting sick and by testing all students, there would be more accurate of the amount of students who are getting sick and this will help the school have more accurate data.
Person #2: If I were to have a say in the protocols the school had to put into place I believe I would add anything to what they have now. Their protocols are straight to the point. It covers everything needed to try to prevent having cases in the school.
Q: There have been some positive cases in the school, how does that make you feel about coming back/staying quarantined?
Student #1: I actually sat next to two students who had COVID, and even though I’m vaccinated, I was still really nervous about the whole thing. I don’t think I’ve ever been that close in contact with someone who’s had COVID before.
Briseida: When I first heard about the positive case it made me nervous about coming into school or even being around anyone. I wanted to stay home but I knew that would not be an option.
Person #2: There have been some positive cases in the school. It’s not something unexpected, especially since students are coming from different boroughs and having to travel from one place to another. It does make me want to stay quarantined. I have been in close contact with someone positive with Covid-19. I go home to my family and I don’t want to carry it to my family. It is something that I always think about when coming to school.
Q: With the world’s and school’s current situation do you think that we will go back online? Is that what you want?
Student #1: I don’t think we’ll go back online because this pandemic made us kind of advance in our technologies and medicine so I’ll think we’ll be prepared if this happens again. I hate online learning so I really hope it doesn’t go back to that.
Briseida: I think there is a very small possibility that we will go back online because there are many measures in place and learning online, in general, has been very difficult for everyone, so as long as there aren’t many cases I believe going in-person to school is the best option.
Person #2: With the world’s and school’s current situation I don’t believe we will go back online at the moment. The number of cases a couple of months ago was fewer than the number of cases now. If they start to increase rapidly then I believe we will go back online. Sometimes I do want to go online because it has become something I got used to. But, if we go back online it will mean there is an increase in cases and I don’t want that. I want everything
Q: What were the benefits for you when we were online, and what are the benefits of coming back in person for you?
Student #1: The benefits of having it online was that the work was much more tolerable and the teachers were lenient about our grades. The benefit of having it in person is now I have the motivation to actually finish my work because that was something I lacked when we were online.
Briseida: When school went online some benefits were not having to wake up as early because there was no longer a commute. Despite this one positive, it was very difficult to no longer see anybody’s face. In addition, finding a way to do work was difficult to get accustomed to because you no longer had something physical to write on or hand in. The benefits of being in school are you have peers who are next to you and you can ask questions when you don’t understand, and the breaks in between each class which help you get moving which is something that was difficult to do at home from your couch.
Person #2: When everything was done online I was able to do them in the comfort of my house. My schedule was more flexible and I was able to do everything without getting very stressed. Coming back in person makes it easier to understand the work that I am being taught. It also gives me a chance to take a break from facing a screen for more than six hours. Being in quarantine for a long time has affected everyone’s mental health and going in-person kind of helps relieve it.