By Junior Hannah Colbert

“I want school back. I never thought I’d say that.”  All across America are students who feel this way. This quote was taken from an answer on a survey of Windom students. Many of the answers were the same, everyone misses what we had, students want their normal back and seniors want their spring semester back. There is something all of us want back, we see more than ever what we had now that it’s gone. 

For students, missing something is a common occurrence at this time. Many miss their favorite staff member or teacher, others miss their friends, overall we just miss the social interaction we had everyday. Lots of these students went from talking to multiple classmates and teachers a day to not really talking to anyone anymore. The situation is different for everyone, schedules are different now for everyone. Some students have siblings to watch after, some have farm work or essential work to tend to, some have house work. Regardless of what each student has, everyone is doing their best to adjust to our new normal for now. Distance learning circumstances, added stress, lack of motivation, forgetfulness, social isolation, boredom, and an overall feeling of being overwhelmed have created a strong undertone to our spring. No matter what negativity we’re seeing, Windom students are pushing through to finish these last weeks of online school. 

While students have experienced the realities of the current situation, teachers and staff have felt the pain of isolation as well. Windom staff went from interacting and seeing all sorts of students daily to completely changing it up and trying to adjust to teaching a screen. Teachers miss seeing their students, past and present, everyday. Coaches miss seeing their athletes everyday. It is much more difficult to see growth through a computer or iPad screen and even harder yet to build relationships with those students. The interaction isn’t the same, students have difficulty getting work done when they don’t have the regular day to day physical interaction with staff. Now more than ever, teachers are offering support for students who are feeling the pain of this lack of physical engagement. Our teachers do their best to be available, flexible, and there for their students that need them most. 

Distance learning has been a big adjustment for all of us, the reality is many people don’t like it at all. Regardless of how everyone feels about distance learning, Windom Schools are doing their part to make the best of this situation we’re in. Everyone misses each other and we are doing our best to maintain the positive relationships that mean so much to everyone. As we come to a close, go call up a friend, go email your favorite teacher, or even just get your assignment done. The teachers understand your obstacles, we’re all in this together!