It’s safe to say it’s been a pretty strange school year so far. There has definitely been a drastic shift for everyone, but for freshmen, online learning isn’t the only thing that’s new. Getting used to the new teachers, classes, and environment can be hard, and virtual learning has certainly not made this process any easier. Overall the experience hasn’t been necessarily bad or good, it just hasn’t been much of an experience because of the pandemic.

As a freshman, I feel very isolated. It is so hard to meet the people I share classes with, when most of the time all I see is a little square on a screen. There is so little interaction with your peers that you don’t really know who’s in your class. Your teachers talk, and you listen, but there is no effective way to get to know people. If we were to go back to school in person, it would feel like meeting each other for the first time. The class would feel empty.

The difficult thing about this is that it’s not an easy fix. I don’t blame other students for not being the most outgoing people while trying to communicate through a screen. There’s no way for teachers to really make it happen either. That’s what I think sets this whole experience apart from other grades. For the most part, the upperclassmen and sophomores are accustomed to who their classmates are, whereas freshmen have never actually been in a setting with the people they go to school with, other than on a computer. 

The classes are also different than they were in middle school. Of course you have your core classes, but the concept of electives is new. I like having the freedom to choose some of my classes; that way I can learn about something I’m passionate about. It can be hard to stay focused during online lessons, but the material is certainly new and exciting! 

It’s hard to notice really large differences that distinguish Wilson from middle school because of the crazy state we’re in. The new building and the new people? We don’t get to experience that. I’ve been around the Wilson community for a while, both having a sibling at Wilson and going to the school a block away from it. I’ve been anticipating going here for so long that my experience hasn’t been bad, just a bit underwhelming. I was looking forward to the start of my highschool experience, but I haven’t really been able to have it.