Students struggle to reacclimate to full-time, in-person learning

Back from a year of hybrid learning, many students — although not all — say they are struggling with the transition to being in school full-time. 

“I have committed myself to too many activities this year, a part-time job, and a few too many challenging courses,” said senior Laura Carpenter. “I am more worn-out than I used to be and I do find myself stressing about assignments more than I have in the past.” 

Several juniors and seniors said it is more difficult for them to complete all their goals and get a enough sleep for the next day. The majority of them have signed up for higher-level classes, more activities, and community service, and some of them are starting to research about college.

“I come home from school and do school work until I go to dance just to come home to do more work,” said junior Ava Santangelo. “I am constantly working and by the end of the day, I am exhausted.”

Students have scheduled so much for themselves that they either get all their work done and get little sleep or get some of their work done and try to get a good night’s rest.

“On top of school, I work, play tennis, and participate in crew,” said junior Katrina Trimble. “At the end of the day I get all my work completed, yet I get little sleep each night.”

While some students pointed to the transition to full-time school as a factor in their exhaustion, junior Blaise Watson thinks that it is his handling of time management that is the problem. 

“I am glad to be back in person full time,” said Watson. “It is more engaging, which makes it easier to focus on learning. I think that it is due to my own shortcomings that hinder my ability to complete work in a timely manner.” 

Not all students find it hard to balance their workload and sleep schedule. 

“The teachers are not too demanding with their workload,” said sophomore Annalisa Laphen. “I feel like I have too much time to complete assignments. After school and dance, I am still able to go to bed at a reasonable time each night.”

The change back to full-time, in-person schooling has affected underclassmen as well as upperclassmen. 

“I have been adjusting to the new school pretty well, but there has definitely been a big change in the workload coming from a smaller grade school,” said freshman Tyler Sion. “There’s also been a change in the environment of high school, but with the help of the teachers I’ve been able to start the year off strong.” 

The change in the environment of high school was something sophomore Alex Rosen, whose first year at Carroll was a hybrid year, also mentioned.

“I think after going back to school full time, adjustments are harder and less obvious than you’d think,” said sophomore Alex Rosen. “I wasn’t expecting much of a change going from virtual to in-person learning. However, I had not expected how much different it actually is.  Since everyone is back in school, the hallways and classrooms are packed. My sleep schedule is affected as well, since with hybrid school, I’d be home half of the time which would allow me to wake up later and go to bed sooner. In-person school does have its advantages. We are learning in a more upfront and indirect way rather than before.”