by Anna Morokutti (’23) | May 10, 2021

With the recent option for students to return to campus four days a week, many students have been taking advantage of the opportunity to have a change of scenery, engage with their teachers in-person, and carefully socialize with friends under the school’s safety guidelines. Accustomed to a year of virtual learning and the challenges accompanied by it, many students are sharing their thoughts on the new format of classes. The Lancer invited a sophomore at Saint Francis to describe a day in her life attending school in-person after the shift from remote learning.

A typical Brown day in the life of this Saint Francis student begins at 7 a.m. Upon waking up, she faces a fifty-minute race against the clock, scrambling to get ready for the upcoming day and meet her carpool by 7:50 a.m. Occasionally, in her carpool, she catches a quick nap to prepare herself for the hectic day ahead. Once at school, she typically has no time to mingle with and greet her friends in the quad, as she sprints straight to her first-period Spanish class in a hurry to arrive before the bell rings. 

Afterward, she walks to her third-period math class. She reflects that it has been fairly difficult to transition to in-person learning specifically with math because of the format changes in her class. As the clock ticks slowly toward 11:10 a.m., the lunch bell finally rings. 

She darts to the lunch line so she can grab the first order of chicken tenders. Although the week has just begun, she is already thrilled that there will be ice cream served every Friday and looks forward to the special weekly treat as an added perk of returning to campus. During lunch, she catches up with her friends and enjoys the break she has before her next classes. 

Soon, fifth period arrives. At this point in the day, she comments that her caffeine is beginning to wear off. With the lights turned off in class, she starts to feel especially tired. However, as class concludes and the end of the day is within sight, she is ready to power through her final period. 

At last, she heads towards her last period class: religion. She notices that meditating in her religion class is slightly more challenging at school because the familiarity of her room at home provided a calm environment, while the classroom made it slightly harder to de-stress. 

Once the final bell rings, she eagerly meets her friends in the quad, and they venture to Safeway for a quick snack before practice. After returning to school, the group sets off to the locker rooms to change. With less pressure to race from home to school before practice in the circumstances of virtual learning, she observes that there is significantly less worry about arriving to practice on time now that she is already in the vicinity. 

Finally, after an exhausting practice, it is time to commute home. As she returns to the comfort of her home at around 5:30 p.m., she takes a couple of minutes to wind down before she must start her homework. 

Overall, it has definitely been an adjustment to transfer to in-person learning, but she loves being able to see her friends more often face-to-face. She thinks learning at home is slightly less stressful, but still enjoys being able to attend school in a refreshing new way.