Students Share Feelings on 2021-2022 School Reopening

As New York City public schools reopen for in-person learning, Stuyvesant students express their thoughts and feelings on returning back to school.

“I feel very nervous, mainly because I haven’t really socially interacted with anyone in a long time, especially with virtual learning. It’s just so much different. I think I’m also just really worried, just in general, about time management, commute-wise, and how much sleep I’ll get, but I’m also a little bit excited because it’s different in a class setting when you’re in person rather than virtual. I’m definitely more nervous.” —Iris Lin, sophomore

“I definitely think a vaccine mandate would make me feel safer as it’s better than nothing, but the fact that remote may not be an option is worrisome as I know a lot of parents don’t want their kids going back full time. Mine, for instance, would definitely prefer that I stay fully remote.” —Mosammad Khanom, sophomore

“As for vaccines, I don't have too many worries because it would be a hassle to make sure every single student was vaccinated. I am more excited for school to start because I will get to see friends more often and learn directly, which is more effective for me to actually understand subjects in depth.” —Jinseo Hong, junior

“With the new wave of the delta variant cases, I'm not sure that fully reopening the schools is a good idea. I think a hybrid method of both in person and remote learning would be a better option. I’m more nervous than excited. The workload in high school will definitely be more than I'm used to from middle school. There are also aspects that I am excited about, like the free periods.” —Vanessa Chen, freshman

“I’m definitely more excited than nervous. I thought the energy at the building was great and it sure beats sitting at home all day. I’m looking forward to seeing friends in person again and interacting in real life. I’m not looking forward to my one and a half hour commute.” —Sirui Pu, senior

“I’m happy that they’re not forcing people to get vaccinated, but at the same time, I am a little bit worried because COVID-19 is still a thing. I am also not very excited to be wearing a mask for seven hours a day for five days a week. That is going to be a struggle probably.” —Benjamin Botnik, senior

“I wish [getting vaccinated] was mandatory as well. I feel very nervous when I think about how I could be going to a school with people that aren’t vaccinated, and when they’re endangering so many other peoples’ lives. I want to make my remaining years of high school as good as they can be, but I’m not looking forward to the normal lifestyle of a Stuyvesant student like waking up really early, walking tons of stairs, and taking junior-level classes. I feel like I’ve jumped from a freshman to a junior in a second.” —Chloe Peng, junior

“My major reservation is commuting to school as personally, my commute is quite long. Overall, I'm looking forward to returning back to the school building as long as everyone cooperates to prevent the spread of COVID-19 at Stuy.” —Rayyan Bhuiyan, senior

“Something I’m not looking forward to is the extra work, something brought up by a lot of people, because you have almost double the amount of time, in two days, to work and study inside the classroom, than we have with remote learning in the 1-5, 6-10 schedule. So that’s gonna be a lot more work, a lot more homework, and it’s gonna be in such a condensed amount of time, because you’re having all your classes in one day, rather than splitting them into two.” —Allison Palisoul, sophomore

“I’m [...] pretty excited about getting to learn in person again. I find it hard to not get distracted when I’m learning remotely and my phone and laptop are at my disposal, with no one to tell me I can’t use them. Being on Zoom for five hours a day can get exhaustingly boring too. Learning in person would probably be much more engaging and it’d be much easier for me to focus and take in material.” —Caroline Leung, senior

“I've only ever been for SHSAT day, Regents, and more recently, sports tryouts. I definitely got lost the first few times and still don't know more than two floor layouts. It's a really cool building though. I'm super excited to go every day to learn [but] it'll be awkward if no one recognizes each other from the past Zoom year though.” —Eshaal Ubaid, sophomore