The First and Only Full Week

     So many of us were all so excited that one day in late October, the announcement that we would be returning to school on November 2nd. After a long seven months since the last time we stepped into Sparta High School, we would finally be returning. I never thought I would say this but the thought of being back in a classroom brought a smile to my face. We were set to be on a hybrid schedule meaning students with last names starting with A-K would attend school one week while students with last names starting with L-Z would be online and then switch the next week. It was a little upsetting knowing I wouldn't be in school with my friends who had L-Z last names but I was still very excited to go back. 

The First Day:

    On November 2nd, I woke up in a great mood, so excited to get ready for the day. I quickly brushed my teeth, picked out my outfit, and went downstairs to eat breakfast. I remember thinking about how much I enjoyed the rush of getting ready for school in the morning. I got into my friend's car and we were off to school. Although I hadn't gotten ready for school since March, it still felt like a normal routine to me. Once we arrived at school it immediately felt different which is what I had expected. I put on my mask, got out of the car, and made my way across the parking lot. Once we got to the doors I opened up the parent portal website on my phone and showed the security guards that my parents and I filled out the daily COVID check ensuring that I had no symptoms of the virus. 

    Walking into the building felt so odd, it was just a reminder of how crazy our world had become. If I had known last year that this is what school would now look like, I wouldn't believe it for a second. For the schedule that day, we had all eight of our classes and they were each thirty minutes long. The first class I had that morning was Spanish. Once I arrived, my Spanish teacher informed the class that before every class, we would have to sanitize our desk every time we walked into the classroom. This was odd to me but was once again something that was apart of the new normal. The rest of the day went pretty smoothly. Even though we had already known our teachers for about two months by this time, most teachers went over the usual back-to-school speech. I could tell that it was difficult for a lot of the teachers to balance tending to both the in-person students as well as the online students. It would sure take a lot of getting used to but my first day of school was a success. 

The Following Week:

    The following week cohort A was back again but this time for a full week in person. This week the schedule would be only four classes per day for about an hour each class. This meant that one day we would have A day classes and then the next day we would have B day classes. On Friday we would switch back to eight classes in one day. The week was pretty average. Once again, it was just the students and teachers trying to adjust. There were arising concerns about COVID since there were a few new cases in our school, some students were sent home due to this. 

The Bad or Good News:

On November 20th, we learned that we would be transitioning back to all virtual learning until January 15th. This news did not come as a shock to me. After finding out about the rise in cases, this is what I expected. This news could either be taken as good or bad. The good part is that we are taking proper safety precautions to make sure that nobody else gets sick and to slow the spread of COVID. It is also easier for both the students and teachers to have the whole class together rather than in the hybrid schedule where we felt split. The bad news is that we only got to be in person for one week. We were all just adjusting and finally experiencing school how it used to be (kind of). 

    In the end, every decision that our school makes is made to protect our health and safety. With this time of uncertainty, we need to accept that things won't be normal for a very long time. It is our job to find ways to cope with this and do the best that we can to adjust to this crazy world.