This year has been a very unusual experience for everybody globally, and it especially has had a toll on schools too. 

We can all agree that this semester was a very new experience. 

But sometimes we can forget the little things that happen, so why not look back on the year?

I didn’t even hear about the virus unitil around late January when I was in world geography class. Since we watched the news every day in that class, I basically watched the virus spread and get worse and worse until eventually school got cancelled and the lockdown took place. Before that, Asian Giant Hornets, or more commonly known as “Murder Hornets” were discovered in the U.S., causing an influx of memes about them.

The influx of memes led to students here at Chapman to start talking about them.

Not long after, word spread around the school about a virus in Wuhan, China. More and more people started talking about it and word spread just as fast as the virus did. 

The new virus caused a disease called COVID-19. Not long after, COVID-19 arrived in the U.S., where people talked about it non-stop,until the lockdown took place.

The lockdown that took place closed schools and non-essential businesses for five months, putting us in a virtual school. Generally, most students didn’t do as well in the virtual school than they did in in-person school, but I would prefer the virtual school since it seemed easier for me.

But being in the same place with the same people for five months straight was very tiring since we never got a break from each other. 

When schools opened back up, it was a little refreshing to be finally going somewhere, but it was also worrying since it was putting people in close contact, which raises the risk of spreading COVID-19 even more. 

In August, students attending Chapman had the option to stay virtual or to attend in person school via the new hybrid method. 

Students also were and still are required to wear face masks at all times while on campus.

The way the hybrid method worked is simple: Students were split up alphabetically into two groups, A and B. The beginning of the alphabet, A group, went to school on Mondays and Thursdays, and had the rest of the days online. 

The hybrid schedule lasted for almost the entire first semester, and students had varying opinions on it. Generally, most students disliked it.

It was a very different experience for me and everyone else who didn’t choose the all-online class, and that could be a major reason why people disliked it so much; plus it was complex. 

Right around Thanksgiving, the district announced that it would be going back to a five-days-a-week schedule, with both A-day and B-day students attending all five days. 

This new chance excluded the online students, as they would be staying in their online classes.

The change took place right after students got back from Thanksgiving break, and would continue for the rest of the semester. 

Going back five days a week felt different but normal all at the same time. Since I had already gotten used to having so little amount of other students in the school, it almost felt like the school was overcrowded when we all went back.

And since there are now twice as many students on campus, there was plexiglass installed in the classrooms to compromise for the lack of room for social distancing. 

Being able to see and talk to friends I haven’t seen in months was refreshing, and definitely lightened my overall mood.

Although getting to see more friends was nice, having to get used to getting up early for five days in a row was tiring. 

Overall, this semester has been very challenging and strange for both students and teachers, and the future can only be more or less so. 

Being able to get out of the same house is relaxing for most of the students and staff, and with Christmas right around the corner, this semester has definitely ended on a good note.