Lost Mojo

School Days: Pandemic Edition

Connall Strachan. Photo: Amy Strachan

Before COVID-19, we Americans took a lot of things for granted. Having social interaction constantly and on a daily basis is something you can’t do anymore. Or, if you do have social interactions, there are many restrictions. 

The same goes for school.  

When we started doing virtual learning in the spring, it felt like a dream to not have to go to school. Time went on though, and I began to miss events and activities. First, there were no spring sports, which for me meant no lacrosse. Then graduation for the seniors was gone. Food truck-a-thons were out of the question. 

In the summer, without the town festivities we know and love, such as the farmers market or the endless party of the Fourth of July, Swarthmore lost its mojo. The summer felt like a conversation at a family reunion with a weird relative when you know you could be doing something more fun, like playing with your cousins.

Now, with the school year starting up, what was once a dream of not having school for a couple weeks has turned into a nightmare of never-ending disappointments. With my first year of high school soccer in jeopardy, and the joy of starting a new school with new people nonexistent, there’s nothing left but to try and learn new things to fill the time. Many people I know have done this. My sister even learned to complete a Rubik’s cube. She’s the youngest in the family, and it surprised us. 

I’ve been practicing sports. Playing sports video games and watching the games on TV is keeping me sane. 

School itself, though, well, I wouldn’t even call it school. Learning facts and new things is great and everything, but school is so much more that we never realized before. The social interactions between friends and teachers is a big part of it. Forming friendships with teachers always used to happen. 

There aren’t any labs in science or games in gym. Learning things back in normal school wasn’t so bad. Conversations that would arise in the middle of class kept everyone entertained.

Something that’s surprised me is that, at Strath Haven High School, we have an asynchronous day of school on Wednesday. We are given work by teachers, but we don’t have Zoom classes those days. It can get pretty lonely. The asynchronous day of school is like when the sky is sunny, and then out of nowhere a cloud goes and covers it up. After a little while, though, the sky clears back up, and we have the rest of the week.

Our society has experienced so much loss, I feel like it will turn out to be humbling. We won’t take as much for granted and will cherish the days after we all wake up from the nightmare. The scars left by this experience will make us better people.

Connall Strachan is a ninth grader at Strath Haven High School.