After around a year and a half of not going to school, schools have been given the green light to start opening up and students from grade 9 and above have started attending it. With so much uncertainty going on, it was unpredictable and impossible to be sure of when things would start to ease up. After a long 18 months of online classes students were enthralled to finally go to school and have a real conversation with their friends and teachers rather than chatting with them offline. Additionally, a large chunk of students who weren’t able to grasp complex concepts virtually now have a golden opportunity to get their doubts clarified and jump right back on track so that they can finally comprehend the demanding subjects they were being taught. so how does it feel going to school after so long?
Firstly, i would like to start of with what i find the most enrapturing part of the day; my journey to school. Pre-covid, the roads were bustling and traffic was at it’s peak; leaving home five minutes late would spiral into arriving at school 30 minutes past the school opening time. Traffic jams, accidents and many more road incidents weren’t seldom to see, with the roads buzzing with cars; it was as if everyone was rushing to a concert with only one ticket left. Moving on to the present, there are still quite a lot of cars, it’s not like the roads are deserted or anything, its just that there aren’t as much as there used t be. However, with the way the situation is improving, i can notice a gradual increase in the amount of people coming out of their homes and accepting reality; i can definitely see that within the next year or even a few months, the roads will almost be as hectic and crowded as they used to be. Moreover, one difference i had observed during the lockdown was the decrease in air pollution. The increase in purity of the air was conspicuous and further more, nearby swamps and lakes had increasing populations of birds due to the decreasing level of toxic emissions from vehicles.
Moving on to the experience at school, there is definitely a humongous difference in the modes of learning and level of interaction between students at teachers. To begin with, a lot of students are interacting more than they ever used to in online classes. Kids are clearing doubts the same day rather than carrying it with them, and they are also starting to understand and enjoy the subjects that are being taught. The mode of physical teaching just makes the subject that much more enjoyable and intriguing to learn. Secondly kids are finally talking to people other than their families after such long durations. The experience of talking with your friend physically can’t come close to matching its virtual counterpart. Its kind of like a drive. It wakes you up in the morning, knowing that you could have a delightful chat with your comrades, discussing about something hilarious or interesting. Nevertheless, there are still a few difficulties when trying to communicate in class. It may sound silly but believe me, its not. With students wearing masks and sitting far apart, it’s like a challenge to try and understand what someone is trying to convey to you or your teacher from the other side of the class. Their masks muffles up whatever they say and you end up confused. For instance, my friend had asked me “do you have an eraser?” but somehow i heard it as ‘do you have a laser?’. Then when i repeated what i heard he was so confused that he forgot about his own question; isn’t that ridiculous! Another unfortunate part of offline school during covid is that students currently aren’t allowed to access the sports facilities, halting our physical fitness and exposure to sports in school
Lastly, looking at the teachers perspective, they are probably relieved with the return of physical school as it makes teaching so much easier for them. They now have the ability to know whether the whole class understands what they had learned and they are also given the opportunity to teach us practically rather than just theoretically.
To conclude, it will take a while for things to return to the normal state however in the mean time, efficient use must be made out of the time we are given. After all, one could consider us lucky that we were even allowed to go back to school considering the current situation. All in all, i hope that we get to go back to our normal lives once this all mellows down. But one thing is for sure: physical school is immeasurably more enjoyable than online school with all its perks and facilities.