After spending more than five weeks outside of the classroom, EHS students returned to in-person schooling for the first time of the semester on Jan. 24. 

Having to ditch the zooms with comfy blankets for earlier mornings and crowded halls, many students are struggling to adjust to the change. 

“It’s just a lot harder. I not only have to wake up earlier, but I also have to be at school all day. It’s a lot more tiring than being at home,” senior Leah Kaburick said. “There is also more schoolwork.” 

Though Kaburick has had trouble, she said that she is glad to be back in person. 

“I think it is just a lot better for me mentally, and I am able to be more on a routine. It’s also great to see all of my friends and teachers again,” she said. 

Junior Eman Rana said she is happy to be returning to school, citing the importance of in-person schooling for mental health. 

“Being stuck at home staring at a screen for hours on end expected to retain academic subjects sounds almost like torture when said aloud, but it’s been our reality for the past two years,” Rana said. “I think people’s moods will increase from being back in the normal routine. It will be tiring the first week or so, but after that it is going to feel better.”

While the main consensus surrounding the return to school is positive, some students are worried about whether or not being in-person will escalate the spread of COVID-19. 

Senior Josie O’Day thinks that it would have been smarter to wait a few more weeks before returning. 

“With Omicron being more transmissible than anything we have seen yet, I am kind of nervous about how that will play out with the return,” O’Day said. “During lunch there are hundreds of maskless kids, so covid is surely spreading.” 

Sophomore Chris Fuller disagrees. Though he is nervous about getting COVID-19, he thinks it is worth taking the risk so he can go to school in person. 

“I’m really happy that we came back to school. I struggled in online and now I feel so much better,” Fuller said. “Of course I am nervous about covid but I also think this is the right thing because so many kids were struggling and needed that in person type of help.”