Empathy seems to be lacking at Samo this year
Sara Javerbaum, Staff Writer
From the quarantine puppies now left home alone to the pajama pants now only worn at night, almost everyone and everything has struggled with the transition from lockdown to in-person. And at Samo, the adjustment to the new-new-new-new normal (I’ve lost count by now) has, for the most part, gone as smoothly as it could have. However, the transition from distance to in-person learning has been hard for both teachers and students.
Last year, Samo students were given a five-day grace period to complete their homework, meaning that all late work was accepted until five days past the deadline. This year, however, the policy was removed. Combined with the loss of “Wednesday Work Days”, a free day in the middle of the week for students to catch up on work and relax, students were left scrambling to get their work done.
With extracurricular activities back in full swing, the abrupt removal of these policies was even more jarring. During distance-learning, students had much more free time to be part of clubs and out-of-school activities because they were all online, taking away the time constraints of commuting. Students aren’t used to the burdens of extracurriculars, ranging from missing class for sports meets, late-night theatre rehearsals and seven AM marching band practices. Many teachers on campus are overloading their students with rapidly approaching deadlines, and students just can’t keep up.
“Even though the amount of work has stayed relatively the same as we’ve transitioned back into full in-person school, I find that it requires a lot more to focus and work after not being able to just turn off the camera and not pay attention.” Joaquin Auger (’24) said.
Given that the majority of students would be learning on-campus, making it much easier for students to learn, it made sense that Samo would choose to remove the grace period. What the decision failed to consider was how draining in-person learning is. After a year of considering breakout rooms to be an intense social interaction, one can imagine how difficult walking the halls with three thousand other students would be. Even the commute to and from school can feel like much more of an event than it used to. Each school day can feel like a marathon for many students who have yet to adjust to in-person school. According to Talia Yarmand (’22), this affects schoolwork the most.
“I feel so much less motivated to get work done everyday...I’m exhausted from going to all of my classes and the commute back,” Yarmand said.
Overall, returning back to campus after nearly two years has been difficult for almost everyone. It is important to go easy on oneself and allow oneself time to adjust during this difficult time.
