School's back – and so is Omicron
by Damarco Soutor
Right as school was just getting back to normal after the pandemic, Covid cases spiked again with a new variant called Omicron and changed our school lives once again. The Coronavirus has made high school very unique these past few years, causing everything from a full lockdown in early 2020 to part time in-person school and Zoom classes in early 2021 to everything getting very close to being back to normal by late 2021.
That was right when Omicron hit.
“Recently, the seniors have had to move up to the Learning Commons to eat lunch instead of in the cafeteria with everyone else,” Olivia Cowan said when asked about the major changes she’s experienced from Omicron. “Honestly, this is kind of sad for the seniors since they can't see everyone else, but we're willing to do this if it means making things safer for our school.”
Another senior, John Monette, talked about the new seating arrangements for seniors as well, then said, “I'm glad that I'm a senior this year because it means that I already have kind of a core group of friends. We all know each other really well and are already good friends. We don't have to worry about making new friends like a lot of the freshmen, or even some of the sophomores, have to because of Covid and online learning last year. I already know that there's people that I can rely on who are my friends.”
Another big change that kids are experiencing is the change in public transportation. “Since the arrival of the Omicron variant, students who use public transportation have had the more of an emphasis on wearing masks,” Dylan Shumba said. “This was something that wasn't really much of a concern before the jump in cases when people didn't really care as much about masking up. Now it seems like everyone on the train is worried about the virus.”
A freshman at Judge Memorial, Corrine Higgins, said how it doesn’t seem like Covid had a huge impact on her social life. “Now, maybe this is just a misconstrued reality. I could just be so used to this that I don't quite remember anything else. It could also be that I just started high school and to me, high school has always been like this.” For freshman and sophomore students, high school has always been during the pandemic, so they don’t know anything different. “Personally, everything feels pretty normal to me,” said Higgins.
Senior Sam Oswald also reflected back on his high school sports experience, specifically baseball, and how it has been affected by Covid. “I have played varsity baseball for all four years of my time at Judge,” Sam said. “Covid first struck during my sophomore year right at the beginning of the baseball season. Our season that year was drastically shortened and any chances of offseason practices or scrimmages were out of the question.
“Thankfully, we were able to play a full season of baseball during my junior year. There were precautions, of course, with players and coaches wearing masks, sanitizing constantly, and trying to keep as much distance as possible from each other. Luckily, baseball is one of the most Covid-friendly sports out there, in my opinion at least.
“These general protocols prevailed throughout the offseason as I practiced and played with both the Judge team as well as the competitive teams. And right now January is our spring training for the upcoming baseball season. These protocols are more important than ever with the Omicron explosion.”
Covid has affected all high school students in countless ways, but not all of them have been bad.
“Overall since Covid-19 I think people are more kind and appreciative of the small things in life,” Olivia Cowan said. “At least I am. I hope that that outlasts the pandemic and people continue to be that way because it's been a lot healthier for our school.”
Freshman Corrine Higgins said, “I think if anything Covid might have brought positive changes to our school system for the future. Parents and students have experienced the challenges teachers face and now have a greater respect for our educators. Most importantly, I think Coronavirus has taught us that some of the most important lessons taught at school are the social ones.”
Even through all these troubled times and challenges, students like AJ Warden are hopeful for the future. “I think our school and students have done an amazing job this year adapting to the new normal and being open to all the changes that are required for us to stay in in-person school,” AJ said. “I hope that if we all continue to be safe and follow all the rules, soon enough all this will be behind us, and we'll be back in school just like we were two years ago.”
Sam Oswald is also looking to the future, “Though Covid has wreaked havoc on every aspect of my high school life, I'm looking forward to finishing my senior year. And I'm hopeful for what the future may hold.”
