One Month In

“I find it ironic how Stuy tried to push ‘easing us back into school,’ when I can name maybe one teacher I have who is really doing that. To say it truthfully, I have never seen a group of people more competitive, anxious, burnt out, and depressed. The social aspect, being able to see friends and actually interact with people, is by far the most rewarding part about coming to school in-person.” —Anna Gittardi, sophomore

“I forgot how loud the cafeteria is or what it feels like to be packed so close to other people, and how much time things take. It takes so much time to climb the stairs in between every period and commute to school and sit during your free periods and wake up early. [...] As much as I hated the monotony of Zoom, slowing down really helped me live so my life wasn’t scheduled around the next thing I had to get done. [...] God, I wish I just had time. I’m 17 and I’m already feeling like I’m falling behind in everything.” —Inika Agarwal, senior

“I felt like during quarantine, you never really met your teacher in-person. Even if I really needed the help, I would refuse to ever e-mail them because it was so awkward. Now I don’t really feel that.” —Grace Wu, junior

“The COVID-19 protocols are about what I expected, though the health screening just seems like a formality with little practical purpose. Basically, all students and teachers are following COVID-19 safety rules [...] at all times, which is actually better than I was expecting.” —Sophia Wan-Brodsky, junior

“Coming back into school just made the whole experience better because you’re actually able to exercise as you’re going about the classes. [...] I was really worried coming into it that I would get completely lost because I’m very forgetful, but it’s actually been very easy and I like the way the schedules are laid out, and I think overall the community is just really nice.” —Niamh Werner, freshman

“Last night, I went to bed at 3:30 in the morning. I like seeing people, but at the same time, I’m socially exhausted. It’s like I have a social battery and it’s drained every day. Honestly, I wouldn’t mind hybrid [learning].” —Khujista Umama, senior

“Every day, I just want to go back to school and see my friends. In my free periods, I like going outside because the weather has been nice for a long time, so I’m going to enjoy it while I can. I go to Rockefeller Park a lot. I sit on the grass and I love looking at nature.” —Kyle Hon Chan, sophomore

“In-person is more fun because you are talking and having fun with people to their faces, but remote was definitely more convenient timewise.” —Amy Gorreja, sophomore

“To be honest, I actually enjoyed remote learning a lot more than in-person learning. [...] I [didn’t] have to climb various flights of stairs to get to my drafting class on the 10th floor from my second floor AP World class.” —Amy Zhang, sophomore