The day we have all been waiting for, and wondering when it will come, has arrived: The return to in-person schooling. The entire school year up to this point has been virtual for ERHS students, both virtual and remote.

This Monday, was the first day of physical school since March 13, 2020. It had been over a year since we had classes that weren’t held on Zoom.

As most of you know, four cohorts were created to make this possible, as COVID guidelines didn’t allow for all ERHS students to return to campus at once. Cohort A goes in the morning on Mondays and Tuesdays, B goes in the afternoon on Mondays and Tuesdays, C goes in the morning on Wednesdays and Thursdays, and D goes in the afternoon on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Fridays are a remote day for all cohorts.

Class periods are only 45 minutes each, making the days go by extremely quickly. As a member of cohort A, I have already completed my week of school in-person and now just have my remote independent work to complete.

It was both a strange and exciting experience to come back to campus after being away for so long. As a STEM student, I already knew most of my teachers or at least had seen them around, but for the ones I hadn’t, it was interesting to see how they looked different in-person compared to through a computer screen.

Some of my classes had a very small number of students in it, only 3 or 4, which might seem awkward, but it really wasn’t, especially considering I already knew them. Other classes had a more standard size for this hybrid model, 10-11, which was nice.

Seeing actual people besides your immediate family or random people at the grocery store is certainly an upgrade, and though it may seem weird and a bit awkward now, we will all get used to it and get back into a routine. We have been out of social practices for so long, and our faces being hidden behind masks doesn’t exactly help improve the social setting.

Of course, masks are necessary for safety precautions, and many other precautions were put into place such as hand washing and hand-sanitizing stations, temperature scanners, physical barriers on the desks, and cleaning of desks.

Overall, returning to school was both odd and nice. As a senior, I was beginning to wonder if we would be able to return at all before graduation. As time goes on, the hybrid schedule should go more smoothly and we will all figure out ways to manage our time and get things done.

In order to gauge other people’s opinions on this new hybrid schedule, I asked both a freshman and a senior about their thoughts on their first week back.

My brother, Nicholas Blake, who is a freshman, shared his thoughts on his first official week at high school with this hybrid schedule. He said “It’s been harder for me than most others considering it’s my first year on campus, but even so it hasn’t been much of a challenge to navigate. I think the change was much needed and very refreshing after a long time of online work.”

I also spoke to one of my fellow seniors Ashley Nguyen. She said that it is “kinda sad for the amount of work put in”, but did acknowledge she “doesn’t share any cohorts with [her] friends.”

She was “looking forward to seeing [her] friends” which now “isn’t happening”, making her “discontent.”

This is definitely a downside to the cohort system, as many friend groups are being split up. Hopefully the cohorts can eventually be combined and we will all be able to see our friends more frequently.

Until then, we can keep practicing safe COVID measures and keep trying with all of our schoolwork, even though this is certainly a hard point in the semester. Good job completing your first week of in-person school Mustangs, and try to keep up your spirits!