We’ve hit a new milestone: hybrid learning.

Personally for me, if someone had told me that we were going to be “hybrid learning” two years ago, I would’ve been a little weirded out. It seems that these unprecedented times have added some new vocabulary to the English language. Screenshare and as I’ve heard some of my teachers say, The Zoomies and the Roomies, to name a few.

This April 19th, we’ve had to conform to the new environment of online learning with a sprinkle of actual people. A little dollop of socialization sour cream to our taco of isolation.

With these new advances, comes a whole new lifestyle and environment.

There is a wide spectrum of reflection on this hybrid learning experience, ranging from “Wouldn’t miss it for the world” to “It’s a political move to make people look good.” With vaccinations being distributed, with people as young as sixteen being able to get it, restaurants and stores have begun opening up a little bit more. Sports have started, along with mask exceptions for those who have been deemed “the vaccinated ones.”

Some would say that we should just finish off the year all online and wait for everything to be fixed and then go back to normal–they could very well be correct. According to snohd.org, below is a graph of the COVID spikes, stemming from March 1st, 2020 to current. April 24th, 2021. As shown below, there was a spike in the winter of 2020 AKA holiday time. And it seems that we are climbing into another spike of this pandemic.

One student had stated that going back in-person is, “A little iffy because of COVID, but it seems that the school is handling the process well and everyone has been following safety protocols” as well as another, who said, “It seemed like a scary idea, but seeing how many kids are actually in school now and how they’re distanced lessens the fear a bit.” NSD had managed to keep the number of confirmed cases per group under fifty—shown on NSD’s COVID-19 dashboard—despite the spike as shown on the graph. Although others would argue that “we’re still a global pandemic” and “there are too many risk factors. It’s just not worth it.” The range of answers in the surveys are endless.

Contradicting those opinions, students would say hybrid was definitely worth it. Hybrid learning has boosted their grades and made them more motivated to learn and has given them the ability to ask questions and get an almost immediate answer. They’re able to zone in on their work, as it’s now learning in an academic environment, instead of learning at the same place they relax, sleep, and eat. 

But overall, the majority feel that their choice of whether or not they should return to campus has been the right one for them. With the vaccination being distributed, the end may be closer than we think.