(Fun fact: I, Noelle, signed up to write this article on Friday morning and, two hours later, got pulled out of class and told to quarantine for two weeks).

Exactly one year ago, Saint John’s Prep had its first day of online learning. It was expected to be a practice day, just to get used to the format ad technology in case we had to go online for an extended period of time. Suddenly, the night before, the school received an email that a member of the Prep community tested positive and classes would be online for the coming two weeks. This came at a very inopportune moment, since the spring musical was about to go into tech week, spring sports were just getting started, and the CRS Rice Bowl was about to begin receiving donations. Everyone was robbed of the things they look forward to most come springtime.

Two weeks became an indefinite amount of time, and then the remainder of the semester. Students and teachers alike had never experienced this, so it was very difficult for everyone. Not only the new form of learning, but the lack of interaction as well. Teenagers love to communicate through their phones, but face-to-face contact is vital to teens as well. Not only was school no longer a place to see others, but kids couldn’t even hang out on their own time. It was an awful time for so many reasons.

Sophomore Tori Grandy had a very unique experience with the lockdown, since she and her family live an hour away from school. She says she as always felt isolated because of her distance from school, but quarantine made it even worse. It was nice to not have an hour-long drive twice a day, but eventually the distance got lonely. She believes the ordeal would have been easier if she had lived closer to school. She would have been able to collect materials from teachers and see her friends outdoors. COVID-19 has only affected the school for a year, but Tori feels like it’s been going on forever.