As the school year comes to a close, it is quite obvious that this year has been hectic, unexpected, and both under and overwhelming as a whole.

The beginning of the year started off with a week delay, followed by a “Smart Start” week, where students and teachers alike were learning how to navigate Canvas and other online learning tools. The first day of this “Smart” week was definitely hard to get through, personally, I had to work with a program that was constantly crashing and being overloaded with countless students logging on all at once.

As half of the school came to campus for the first day of in person learning, both teachers and students were still struggling with adapting to the combination is in person but technologically driven schoolwork. From experience, it’s extremely hard to figure out when things are due, how to submit them, what type of file your work needs to be in, etc., especially if you have only had a limited amount of time to learn how to use the tools you’ve been given.

As the year went on, handling online work seemed to get easier and students seemed to fall into a routine and get used to the ever changing expectations that both online and brick and mortar learning required.

Overall, the year went by quick, and I can only say that I am personally proud of and thankful for everyone- administration, teachers, and students- that made an effort to provide the most normal year possible, while also making sure that all felt safe either returning to school or staying online. It’s time to hit the beach, and here’s to having a safe summer, and hopefully to returning to a normal school year in the fall!