Lizzette Valdez, 11th

“The time has finally come, where COVID cases have subsided and quarantine is no longer a thing. Since things have calmed down from last year, this means students are coming back to campus. Some may say that they were excited to come back, others might say otherwise; but for me, I had my own experience. My first two weeks coming back were pretty chaotic yet fun because it was a little weird having to come back since over a year ago but I’m glad I did because I got to see my friends again.

The obvious difference from last year is that we are no longer virtual, and a handful of students aren’t happy with it because I noticed that they were used to being virtual and preferred to stay home. Although I do agree that virtual learning was easier on some aspects and I too wasn’t that excited to come back either, now that I’ve experienced both at-home and on-campus school years, I prefer being on-campus. I say that for two reasons: It’s great to see and hang out with the people that I know and seeing the campus again almost gives it a nostalgic feel to it, and I think that hands-on learning is far more better than just looking at a screen all day.”

Paul Nunez Romero, 12th

“In my opinion, the first…weeks of school have been really good so far. They feel like the first two years of school I had here at Bowie, but at the same time, it feels different. Probably it feels like that because it has been a long time since I was on campus. Almost two years of online learning had made it feel weird and different whenever I entered a classroom with lots of students. Many things are different; there are a lot of new faces, the food is different, etc. Ignoring the fact that many things are different and sometimes it feels weird, I do prefer face-to-face learning rather than online. I feel like I’m actually leering because I don’t have as many distractions and I did when I was at home. Personally, it feels good to be back on campus with my friends and all the teachers.”

Isaac Chavez, 12th

“(It’s) been good because I realize that my senior year is going to be a bit relaxing because I almost have finished all my credits so, that means I don’t need to take language or P.E. class, I just need the basics to be good. Another thing I realize is that there’s a lot of things that have changed since last year because I did all of my last year in online classes, which makes this year be a little different also. I think that it’s different to be on online school because you can do many things while being in school. I think something that is the same of last year and this year is the teachers, because I do not know how but they give us the same good attitude in both years. I think that being back to

campus makes me feel weird because it was a while since I was here for the last time. Also, I feel that is like a very different campus because they put more fences as like this was middle school so that no one can get out. Also, what I observe of all the students that I have met, is that they have changed their personality and the way they do things, which is normal because, as I said, it’s been awhile since the last time that I saw them.”

Monica Escarcega, 11th

“It is a thousand times better to be on campus than in my room all day, although it is a little tiring to have to walk from building to building for every class. Although the online classes were great, being able to be in my pajamas and in the comfort of my room doesn’t compare to walking back and forth for all the hours of class, the excitement of knowing that maybe something new might happen, meeting new people, spending time with my friends, getting to know new areas of the school, participating in extracurricular activities, etc.

In terms of grades, I do better than online, because for me it is better to learn in person than online, because there are fewer distractions, for example in online classes I was quite distracted, either with my cell phone, watching a movie or even sleeping. Also, in the in-person classes we use notebooks to take notes, something I really like to do because it helps me practice my penmanship. Without a doubt these first weeks have been great, I’ve met new people, I’ve gotten to know the school and I’ve had fun with my friends.”

Melanie Diaz, 11th

“I could say that going in person to school is so much more relieving  than online. In person is so much easier; it’s like using a cake mixer instead of a spoon. What I love is that time really flies when you do your work. I feel mentally better, and it really makes me content that my grades no longer look like a student who goes to school and doesn’t care. Although sometimes I get the wave of some of the old feelings, I had my freshman year and sophomore that weren’t so pleasing. This year seems so much brighter, and I cannot wait to see what’s to come.”

Jeannine Munoz, 11th

“I feel great about coming back to campus…this is my first year in person, last year was virtual. I am very lazy, so for me virtual is better; but at the same time is not because I don’t spend time with my friends, but I like it. This year is different…we have been able to see o

ur classmates and teachers in person, jobs are easier because we have our teachers here with us or our friends to help too; it’s easier to ask something. I already missed lunch, you can see a lot of faces, meet new people, laughing with friends, even taking pictures with the. I missed working on teams because it’s different on virtual, sometimes nobody talked and here is easier to make them talk.”

Danae Navarrette Sanchez, 11th

“All my friends look different’ most of them change their haircut or have long hair now. Like my closest friend, Manuel Barraza, this guy gets a different hair now and kind changes his personality and I like it because his hair is so soft, and he lets me give him hugs. When we were first-year students, he did not even let me touch him. On the first day of school, I felt like a was going to cry with happiness to go back again and see all my friends and favorite teachers after two years. I miss the chaos in the cafeteria every day and the weird-looking food that gives us to eat. I like online learning because I work alone all the time and get my own space and time, but I get depressed and overstressed all the time; to be honest even my hair was starting to fall off because of my stress. During at-home school, I only eat one time a day and my speed scheduled was only four hours per day too.”

Jocelyn Reyes, 10th

“I’ve gotten out of my comfort zone and I like it. I started talking to people that I never talked to in middle school. I also met a lot of new people and I started being nicer.  I have noticed that I actually missed actual school. I noticed that being at home was good, but being at school was very different. I wanted to enjoy my high school years as most as I can because time goes pretty fast and it’s sad that right now that I’m a sophomore and in two years I’m graduating. The same is that the vibe ( the vibe of being at school) never actually changed everything has been the good right now, and a lot of my classmates haven’t changed at all. I feel great being back on campus; it makes me feel like the old me.”