We’re back…or are we? COVID-19 continues to make learning difficult for students as Loudoun County Public Schools are back in-person. The delta variant is making this transition especially difficult as students have already experienced exposure to COVID-19 early into this school year. 

With the first quarter of school in session, Stone Bridge students compare the changes in learning since COVID-19 hit. This includes how online schooling impacted their learning.

“Last year, I barely retained any of the information. It was pretty difficult for me to learn online,” senior Alex Axtell said. “One of the only things I liked about online learning was being able to sleep in more and do my own thing while listening to class, but in the long run, those [habits were] damaging.”

Seniors are not the only students who had struggles with online classes last year. For example, junior Grayce Buckner spoke of changes teachers should make this year to compensate for online learning. 

“I really hope that teachers will help us relearn the material from last year and that learning will be better this year.” Buckner said. “There were a lot of distracting things we could do [during online learning], like playing really loud music throughout class.”  

Other students, including freshmen, agree that in-person learning reaps more benefits than learning via Google Meet.

“Full-time, in-person learning is a lot better [than distance] in my opinion. It helps me pay more attention and class is a lot more engaging.” freshman Jonathan Denayer said. “It’s actually a little weird going to class, but I am getting used to it.”

Denayer is one of the many freshmen that had to adjust from middle school to high school after online learning. Not only did he have to adjust to in-person learning after distance learning, but also had to adapt to a new school. 

“Going from middle school to high school was kind of hard since middle school ended very abruptly. High school just came out of nowhere and there was not much time to properly prepare,” said Denayer. “Fortunately, high school is starting to feel normal.”

Students concur that the benefits of in-person schooling outweigh those of online learning They also agree that schooling is more entertaining being back in the building with their teachers and peers.

“School is a lot more enjoyable now in-person. [If I had to decide between in-person and distance], I would definitely take it in-person.” Axtell said. “I prefer this year’s setup since it is a lot easier for me to learn in-person.”