The COVID-19 pandemic marked the most devastating experience of my life, characterized by my overwhelming sense of fear. Unknowingly getting my friends sick haunted me, along with the anxiety that high school might never resume in person. The first months of the pandemic put me in isolation; I was hesitant to risk any contact based on the info adults were providing. Older individuals urged me to get vaccinated as soon as the vaccine became public; they shared their apprehensions about the virus’s potential impact on their lives. Witnessing the fear among older individuals, some of whom refused to leave their homes, made me want to understand the roots of their concerns. However, in doing so, their fears became contagious, and I found myself wearing plastic gloves in public, assuming the immense responsibility of keeping others and myself safe.

I was not the only one who went through these experiences though; every student dealt with Covid in their own way.  Students at Mendocino High School had a variety of experiences. I interviewed students at my school to see how they dealt with Covid, and I found interesting results. 

When I asked students what the hardest part of Covid was, I found isolation was incredibly hard on all the students. For example, Wylie, a senior at Mendocino High School, shared his thoughts about not talking to people for an extended amount of time. He stated, “I got so lazy when it came to talking to people because I didn’t have to, but when we went back to school, I had even more difficulty talking to people.” Noah, a junior student at the high school, shared his own thoughts on being alone for months: “I had a big change in my whole friend group because I stopped talking to a lot of people.” However, Radha, a sophomore student, had a different perspective about her time during Covid. She did not isolate as much as the other students and told me, “Yes I did isolate, but I had a few very close friends that I would still hang out with.” 

The sudden shift to remote learning and the uncertainties that came with the pandemic also brought students many obstacles for students to overcome. One of the most significant challenges was the abrupt transition from in-person learning to distance learning. Most students felt like their learning capabilities decreased because it was harder to learn online. I asked Kelsy, a freshman at Mendocino high school, to share her thoughts on how the pandemic affected her learning: “It was even harder online because there wasn’t anyone to help me with my work in person.” Noah, a junior, was asked about his academics during Covid.  His response was “ It was the worst bro; it was the worst because my grades went to s****, and it was like the biggest decline ever in my academic career.”  

I expected people to tell me that Covid was still affecting their lives, but instead, the responses were that it wasn’t affecting most students anymore. Noah said, “Stuff really feels the same now. I just feel like it’s all back to normal to me.” Wylie shared his thoughts on the subject: “It’s hard to put your finger on it, but subconsciously, there was a big shift in the way we feel. However, now it pretty much feels like things are back to normal.” When I think about these responses, I totally agree.

Another surprising outcome from my survey was that students actually had positive outcomes. I found that students learned how to be alone, explore new passions, and be more appreciative of the little things in life. Kelsy shared that she “learned that being alone sometimes isn’t a bad thing, and that sometimes it is actually a good thing to be able to have time to figure your stuff out.” Wylie added, “I enjoyed the alone time a lot, and it was a positive.” Noah shared, “my passion for music definitely increased, and I experimented a lot because of all the time I had.” Furthermore, Radha, a sophomore said, “I feel like everybody’s willing to put themselves out there a little bit more considering that we all had a pause on that for a good amount of our life. 

My last interview questions asked students how Covid changed the way we are today. All the students I interviewed shared similar thoughts about being more hygienically aware. All of them stated that they definitely wash their hands more and, in general, people are more conscious of the things they touch.  The pandemic has definitely left an imprint on the dangers of sharing germs. Kelsy stated. “ I think that when people cough or sneeze in class we sometimes look over and say, are you coughing on me?” 

Works Cited

Brichard, Radha 

Aquilar Anderson, Kelsy

Benfield, Wylie

Krebs, Noah