Freshmen struggle more than most in 2020

by Alex Yabroff, Staff Writer

The following story was written by a student on the staff of The Jaguar Times as part of Hilliard Bradley High School’s Journalism Production course

All high school students are struggling in 2020, but being a freshman is even tougher. Photo by Unsplash.

I think that freshmen struggle this year more than any other because of the things we miss out on. For example learning face to face is way easier, COVID is causing grades to decrease, and it’s not the typical experience.

Learning face to face is essential and is more practical than online learning. According to Mercurynews.com there has been 30% more failing grades than in previous years. I think that so many students are having these troubles because they need physical and mental interaction. When you're on a computer, iPad, or phone for a time of your day it begins to make you go bonkers. Mj Snyder (9) “it’s not the same experience as in school learning because you don’t have the same interactions.” Gared Morisue-lesser (9) “ Online school is harder than in person school because you don’t have the face to face interaction with your peers and teachers. There’s no replacement for in person learning.”

Freshman also miss out on a lot of firsts like first homecoming, first pep rally, first football game, and first class party because of the cautions of touching food and other sorts. Also freshmen miss out on eating lunch with your friends because half of them aren’t here and we have to sit with borders. I think these firsts are important to us because we need to have social interaction. Hannah Snyder (9) “It improves our mental health because you get to see friends and you get to relax because high school is so challenging.” Isabella Delacerda (9) “it gives you someone to talk to and if you don’t have someone to talk to you’ll get lonely.” You miss these opportunities that nearly everyone else has experienced.

Finally freshmen miss out on the connections with their teachers. Like getting to know them, knowing their interests, and talking to them about your out of school life. I think that getting to know your teacher will open up a gate for asking for help when you need it and to create a strong friendship. It is true that kids do better in classes when they're comfortable but we can’t do that with half of the week in school and half of the week out of school. Sofia Italiano (9) “it makes the class less awkward and it makes the class more enjoyable.” Knowing your teacher and them know you makes a better experience in the classroom.

I have just shown you what we as freshmen experience this year in this pandemic. As you can tell there are a lot of challenges that we have to go through. I’m hoping for 2021 there are more opportunities for freshmen than there is currently. But for now we need to keep up the strong work and fight against the struggles.