Recently starting the new 2021/2022 school year at Hidden Valley High School, students are no longer virtual. Unfortunately, last year’s freshman (this year’s sophomores) were online last school year, putting them in a slight disadvantage.

“The pandemic changed our freshman year,” said Aviraj Gupta (10).

This means that not just for freshman, but for sophomores as well, this is their first year of real high school. While COVID stopped us last year, people are still scared of shutdowns. The atmosphere of the school has shifted as well, leaving the upperclassmen with a different setting. This also means the underclassmen are having to learn differently because hands-on options are not as available.

“It is a very young age to be expected to do everything on your own” Mrs. Dermott stated.

As these sophomores adjust to their first year, COVID is still developing which could also put us back online. Sophomores are still getting their first real year of high school, so putting the schools online again could change everything. Lifting the mask mandate could put us back online, due to the recent spike in the number of COVID cases we have had.

Some students are not concerned about lifting the mask mandate though. Ben Campbell (10) said, “I don’t think that lifting the mask mandate will change much for this school year.”

As sophomores try to slide into this year, they still have a lot to learn from last year. They can take these years and use it as power to make their upper-class years better.