Nearly five years after the world shut down on March 19, 2020, students and staff reflect on how the pandemic shaped them personally and academically.
Freshman Myah Morales-Jones, who was in 4th grade when COVID-19 hit, said, ‘The pandemic affected me both positively and negatively. Not having friends to talk to was hard, but I learned to be comfortable in my own company. Academically, I don’t remember anything I learned during that time.'”
Sophomore Kiera Kaufmann said, “COVID affected my learning because, online, I was less motivated and struggled to stay on top of things. It also impacted me socially—I’ve become more introverted and spend most of my time on my phone.”
Along with decreased student engagement, many students have also become more introverted. Junior Emily Hoffman shared, “I feel like I missed out. I lost that awkward, developmental part of middle school, so when I came back, I felt even more awkward than I would have been.”
In the past five years, we’ve returned to school full-time and gained access to COVID vaccines, but is the fear of COVID still lingering? Back in 2021, when we returned to school in a hybrid setup, students who contracted COVID had to stay home for two weeks. If you were near someone who tested positive, you had to get tested, and if you were also positive, you had to stay home for the same period. Kaufmann learned something from this experience. She said, “It taught me that if I’m sick, I’ll come to school wearing a mask and stay away from others.”
COVID has had a lasting impact on the health of many, but it also affected people’s lives in other ways. Junior Alastor Pini shared, “COVID affected me a lot; I feel like it completely changed my personality. My grandmother passed away during the pandemic, and that really impacted me, so I feel like I’ve just declined. Socially, though, I’ve improved a lot in the past two years. I feel like I’ve regained my personality and become more outgoing.”
Junior Fionna Locchetto added, “I feel like communication has changed, and it now takes more effort to get people to hang out.”
While many disliked COVID, junior Skye Johnson found positives during the pandemic. “That was the best time of my life; I got to build LEGOs, I got a trampoline, my phone storage was great, and my grades were amazing.'”
As for teachers’ perspectives, special education teacher Mrs. Ford shared how COVID has helped her embrace technology. “Since COVID, I’ve incorporated more technology in the classroom because I’ve become more familiar with it. While it can be harder to engage students now, they’re generally more engaged than they were during COVID.” Before the pandemic, many students and staff relied on paper resources; now, most use online tools.
Five years after COVID, many things have changed, including the way we interact with each other, the way we learn, and how we navigate our daily lives.
