It’s been over a year since that first “two-week” break in March of 2020, and almost everything has changed. Our everyday lives have been flipped upside down; we now rarely have snow days! There’s a flickering sign of hope as our nation stockpiles vaccines, but Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Biden’s Chief Medical Advisor, estimates things won’t be back to “normal” until 2022, according to an ABC news article from earlier this year.

Graphic by [credit name="Caroline Xie"]

COVID-19 has made seeing friends in person difficult and, at times, irresponsible. Sure, there’s texting and speaking through FaceTime, but most people only feel comfortable talking to a tiny group of people online. What's worse, talking over the internet can be confusing and boring. This discomfort is especially true in school Zooms — although teachers are trying their best, instructions can often be unclear. This means that work piles up and that students have to exert unnecessary effort on small assignments just to avoid bad grades. After talking to many of my peers, one commonality was clear: many students are feeling overwhelmed, anxious, and socially isolated. Yet too many kids seem to be ignoring one simple solution: going to school in person.

If you or a family member is particularly at risk, the best option for you is to stay home. But for many students at PHS, going to school isn’t that dangerous. The American Academy of Pediatrics wrote in early 2021 that as long as social distancing, outdoor spaces, masks, and hand sanitizer are implemented, it is safe to return to school for most groups of people. PHS uses all four.

Coming to school in person can aid learning in multiple ways. The National Education Association reported in early 2020 that students retain information better when learning in person. Asking questions and chatting in person helps strengthen relationships with teachers and improves retention of the material. In order to even understand the material, a student has to be paying attention in the first place. At home, it’s much easier to get sidetracked: Texts, a loud sibling, or social media can all distract a student from the task at hand. Even after refocusing, the teacher has often moved so far into the lesson that it’s virtually unintelligible.

Perhaps the biggest argument against going to school is that in most in-person classes, students sit on Zoom instead of doing a separate activity or engaging with a lesson unmediated by a screen. On the first day I came back, I was stunned when our teacher cheerfully told us to log onto Zoom. But getting to actually bond with teachers on the walk in or out of the classroom and asking questions during or after class is far better than sitting on the couch, even if it does mean staying on the screen.

A couple weeks ago, I was walking down the hallway on my way to Spanish when I heard someone say hi from behind me. I wheeled around, confused, and recognized one of my castmates from the musical, with whom I had been rehearsing almost every day but never actually had a conversation. We talked for a second, and then two or three more kids from the musical walked up. They told me that they had been meeting up in the yard outside the school during breaks. I couldn’t believe it: It was like meeting new kids backstage, which I hadn’t been able to do for over a year.

They dispersed, and I resumed the walk to Spanish when I spotted the debate coach walking down the same hallway, carrying a box of trophies. She stopped and waved, and then I followed her down the hallway to the table outside of the tower, discussing how the year had gone. Suddenly, worried that I would be late for Spanish, I turned to head back down the hallway, only to run into one of my close friends and subsequently one of my teammates from Euro Challenge. Of course, I stopped to talk to them, even though it meant I was a minute late for class.

Interactions like these are what make in-person school special. Having the opportunity to build a community at high school is important, especially for people like me: freshmen who haven’t had the chance to connect with many people. After months at home, the concept of in-person school can feel frightening and stressful at first, but in reality, it’s much better than the alternative. If you cannot go because of circumstances like serious health issues, such as someone in your family having a pre-existing condition, then don’t go. But if you aren’t going because you feel like school will be “easier” at home, you’re only making this year harder for yourself.