I Went Back to Campus

By Marcos Perales | Big Stick Editor |

It had been about more than half a year since I stepped foot on campus, yet it did not feel that way at all. For a split second as I walked through the gates, I felt like a nervous and lost freshman again. It was a refreshing feeling, to be honest. Seeing other students actually walking on school grounds was no doubt a memory of “the past life.” That is fine, because I am totally guilty of looking to the past everyday anyway.

The day I found out that our spring break last year was pretty much going to last forever, I didn’t know what to think. I guess my first reaction was that I was happy about not having to go to school for a while. After a while, though, the whole social distancing idea got old and I wanted to tell the world to stop messing with us. All that felt like it happened yesterday. Fast forward seven months, and I was back in a classroom on Oct. 14 sitting in the same room for four hours for fun while doing a math and reading activity book to pass the time.

Since the time when we all were urged to wear a face mask everywhere we went, a secret identity was given to everyone who hid their well-being behind a mask.  I tried my best to recognize as many people as possible. The unbelievable thing was that my facial recognition powers were not doing so well. Had it really been that long since I have seen these people? 

I was surprised at the fact that my classmates recognized me almost right away, especially since I haven’t gotten a haircut since the beginning of June I think. On my side of things, I felt so guilty not remembering some of the names of the people that immediately remembered me. As I was reminded of their names, it was nice to have all the memories rushing back to my head in those conversation intervals. “How is your quarantine going?” That seems to be the perfect conversation starter these days instead of something like “What’s your story?”

I actually wanted to take the SAT because I haven’t taken a test on paper in forever. That longing feeling went dead after the first question though. After every question, bubbling in an answer sheet along and checking the clock is a torturing combination; I can’t believe I had forgotten that. Some classmates I know say that they felt motivated to complete whatever was in front of them on their desk while they were at school since it had been a while. I don’t know where they got that energy from, because unfortunately, I don’t feel the same way, and last week served as proof.

Now that I got a taste of what school is like this year on campus, I think I’m just fine with doing everything online. I will admit that I do miss the little things like hearing the bell, going up and down the stairs, and seeing a familiar face across the courtyard during passing periods.  Though I would like to go through a whole school day again, waking up later and having a desk I can jump on right away is a good enough deal for me.