by COCO XIA ‘24
After a long year of hybrid learning due to the pandemic, the St. Mark’s community finally started operating fully in-person with everybody back on campus. As our first month of school passed in the blink of an eye, St. Mark’s students have developed widely different feelings and opinions of being back to school. Sitting in the classrooms again, some students felt at home again after a long journey to somewhere else. They looked forward to the sports seasons and the arrival of so many new people and friendships. However, some students are overwhelmed by the significantly larger workload, with “exhausting” and “disconnected” being some of the common words they use to describe the start of the year.
Jacob Cifuentes, a returning fourth former, said he is “really happy to see everyone again and make so many new friends.” Jacob is excited to see all his friends from last year after the summer as they study together in the library and share jokes again. He also brightens up as he finally meets many of his classmates who have been fully remote last year. As new third formers join the community with happiness and nervousness weaved together, Jacob also introduces the campus and builds friendships with many new students.
With the start of the fall sports season, student athletes can finally practice with their best friends on their teams again. Games with other schools have also restarted, enabling students to challenge themselves and become better athletes. Judy Xie, a fifth form student athlete, expresses her excitement of finally being able to practice with her team in-person again, which makes her life feel much more “normal and refreshing” as sports has been “a huge part of her life and an important factor of shaping who she is.” Team reunions have enabled athletes to train more frequently, re-establish friendships, and rediscover who they are.
Thirds soccer game on Sep. 29 with Pomfret school.
Photo Credit: Coco Xia ‘24
However, students who spent their past year entirely remote still need to adjust to the new learning environment. Charlene Murima, a returning fifth former, said that “it is normally never hard to know people around the school because the community is small, but now it’s just so hard to know who is who because all of us have never really met each other before” in the past year. Indeed, remote learning has over-simplified each of us to a tiny box on the Zoom screen. Without genuinely interacting with each other, it is hard to recognize people in the hallway after a full year of separation. At the same time of reconnecting with old friends from two years ago, Charlene also needs to build relationships with the many new faces joining our community, and an enormous amount of interaction makes her feel lost and disconnected during the first weeks of school. Jimmy Liu, a returning fourth former, also said he is “confused about the schedule and has experienced trouble getting to [his] classes.” The challenge of the in-person environment is huge for students who were remote last year, for they need a period to slowly reacquaint themselves with the campus, adjust to the flood of new people and find their comfortable place in the community.
I am more than surprised at how quickly one month has passed since the beginning of school, and I feel fortunate that I get to hear students’ varying opinions towards their school life. The entirely in-person environment has brought laughter and cheer as the sports season has begun and as we make new friends and build new relationships with people in our great community. The process of adapting to the everyday St. Mark’s school life seems more challenging for students who studied remotely last year as they feel more pressured by the heavier workload and increased commitments. I believe that during the period of adjustment, the St. Mark’s community will continue to be resilient and inclusive, always providing our lions with the support they need.