A Fresh(man) Perspective: Looking back on starting high school during a pandemic

My family has a tradition of taking an annual first-day-of-school picture. It’s fun to look back at the pictures together, my parents remarking about how much I’ve grown and how “it seems like just yesterday” I was in kindergarten.

I never would’ve guessed that my “first day of high school” picture would be 14-year-old me sitting at the dining room table, face illuminated by the bright glow of my MacBook screen.

It’s no secret that this hasn’t been a normal year for anyone. But as a freshman, I can’t help but wonder what it would’ve been like without a global pandemic playing out during my first year of high school.

I’m one of those people who worries a healthy amount (or maybe a little more than I should) about upcoming events in my life. Needless to say, I was already nervous enough about transitioning into high school. But it was mainly the normal stuff — finding my way around a new school, balancing academics and extracurriculars and meeting new people. 

Add a deadly virus rapidly spreading throughout the world to the mix, and my worry was multiplied exponentially.

Suddenly my focus shifted from finding a good locker to keep my books in to wondering if schools would ever open up again.

It turned my big plans for freshman year around and forced me to reevaluate what was necessary in my life — maybe instead of signing up for three clubs and two sports and getting 50+ volunteer hours was a little ambitious, and perhaps I should just focus on making it through the school year.

I won’t lie, my grades didn’t excel while I was in the online learning model. Or even hybrid for that matter.

But — and bear with me through the cheesiness of this — I learned so much my freshman year. Sure, I guess you could say I learned how to write dihybrid crosses and about the different types of literary elements within To Kill a Mockingbird, but more importantly, I learned the positive impact of getting involved in clubs and sports.

After over seven hours of Webex meetings, the 90-minute cross-country practices were my saving grace. I was able to verify that my classmates were actually three-dimensional, and discuss something other than last night’s English homework.

When we eventually made the switch back to hybrid, it was nice recognizing some familiar faces I’d seen while on a long run at practice. Even though I was in a brand new school with seven brand new teachers, it really helped me to see my classmates and friends in the halls.

I know how easy it is to complain about school and blame all my problems on the pandemic — believe me, I do it more times in a day than I can count — but it’s important to recognize that this unique experience, to say the least, has taught freshman me to prioritize social connections and value the activities I’m involved with. I can’t speak for everyone, but I’m beyond glad I learned this lesson early on in my high school years.

So when I eventually do go back and look at my “first day of high school” picture, I could make a joke complaining that freshman year sucked because of COVID (which is partially true, by the way) or I could reflect on persistence during a year unlike any other. I’ll choose the latter.