Student perspective: The pandemic was rough, but we are resilient

Editor’s note: Houleye Sy is a high school junior.

Inevitably COVID had a huge impact on each and every one of us; as we saw the sun rise yet unsure of what was to come, creating the most severe global education disruption in history, many of us struggled to transition to normalcy. \

They called us the COVID generation.

As we experienced our education being disrupted in ways that never happened before, there were a lot of expectations. I would consider it a huge setback for not only my generation, but the world as a whole.  

See, the thing is if you ask a student like me how it feels like being placed on lockdown for a year and basically being forced to be independent and responsible for your own education whilst navigating the passageways of both young adulthood and high school I would tell you honestly it was hard, it was challenging, it was something different.

Fast forward three years later I am a junior, and man do the years go by fast. The transition from sophomore year to junior year was easy, however not the same can be said about my freshman year (online) to my sophomore year.

I remember walking inside the building feeling lost and confused. It was a feeling of homesickness, a step closer to normalcy. It was weird being in a classroom setting as opposed to my bed, but gradually as the school year progressed, and we got back to our old routine somehow everything seemed fine once again, in a way like the pandemic didn’t happen, if you don’t count wearing masks of course, (I mean will that ever feel normal?). 

This new school year though, I am excited, a feeling that I did not feel last year. I am excited because I know that even though a year of our education was disrupted, my generation is still resilient as we have already proven.

I am excited because I know that even If something like the pandemic were to happen again we would power through. Though a lot of us still have some catching up to do, especially those of us who are upperclassmen, I believe that the best way our community can help us is to listen to our voice, demands, and needs to provide the resources needed to help us succeed, weather it be more interactive programs, more internships etc.

Just allowing students to voice their opinions on policies will set us up for success.