Stress has been weighing on many students whether they have AP classes or not, if they have sports, or if they have to work after school. The most stressful part of coming back into the building this year was adjusting from remote learning.

The first semester forced students to adjust to a new life, since last year most of those who came into school did not have a full high school experience.

Addison Jones, 10th grade, had remote learning for freshman year and was excited to start classes in-person this year. “I was really excited to start classes in person, because I like having a routine. Now I enjoy coming to school most days,” said Jones.

Another student expressed why she was not excited to start school in person. Serenity Seda, 10th grade, said, “When I first started my classes in-person I was very nervous and wasn’t expecting to have a good time.”

“Even though I was very social, I still thought the transition would be hard from remote to in-person,” Seda said. She now feels very “comfortable” with the school, students, and teachers. “The environment has made me feel very good about classes,” she said.

Both of these students have AP classes, though the most difficult class for Seda is her global history class “because of the workload and the amount of information we receive daily.” She feels since her and her class are learning something new almost every day, it’s hard to receive the information and to take it in.

Brayan Ortiz, 10th grade, said, “When I started my classes in person I was obviously a little hesitant, because it has been a while since I’ve got to see actual people in one area and get back to the everyday school routine.”

Ortiz also feels the same as Seda, he said “Now I feel more comfortable and am able to slowly merge back to my old life.”

The class that is most difficult for Jones is environmental science “because we are mostly graded on tests so you really have to know the material.”

Ortiz expressed that difficult classes sometimes make it hard to enjoy that segment of the day during school. He explains “I usually don’t enjoy struggling with something, especially things involving school.”

Many students feel that there is more work than they need, making it hard to balance school work and their personal work, jobs or extracurriculars.

Other students feel that there isn’t enough work, causing it hard to be able to get chances to have better grades. As the second semester goes on, many students feel they are hanging on by a thread when it comes to their grades.

There are many students who can’t focus as much as the others which becomes frustrating and makes them feel they will never catch up.

Some students can’t help but procrastinate ever since having to transition to remote learning, which began in March 2020 and ended in September 2021. Seda said, “Since I’m a big procrastinator, the difficult classes make me very anxious and stressed.”

A great variety of students prefer in-person school, others still prefer remote, and a very small number prefer blended.

For example, Seda said that she prefers in-person school “because you can actually interact with the people you’ve seen on the screen. It’s better to have face-to-face lessons and conversations.”

Ortiz prefers in-person school. “During remote learning I feel like it impacted me mentally, not being able to go outside and having to stay in one area all day.”
“Not being able to socialize and talk to people and I feel like a lot of kids gained social anxiety or issues because of remote learning and being away from everyone,” said Ortiz.

The reason Jones prefers in-person school is so she can see her friends. These three students’ goals are to both graduate with good grades, and to be able to go to college.