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AUG 12, 2021
Social Anxieteam As students return from fully virtual learning, many experience social anxiety readjusting to in-person
A
CHLOE SUN COLUMN
s one of last year’s many
hundreds of teachers, friends and fully virtual students, by peers in a day to barely any was a mathe time this column is jor change, and going back to that published, I will be returning is going to be a major one as well, to a “normal” school environwhether it’s a welcome change ment for the first time. After or something you dread. months of learning through On one hand, I’m really Zoom screens and Canlooking forward to being able vas quizzes, plunging back to see my friends again and into a school of thousands get real-time feedback from after living through a year teachers. While the summer of learning from a laptop in may have allowed for more awkward turtle my bedroom is a significant time to spend with friends I by the change, to say the least. haven’t gotten to talk to all year, Gone will be my days of sleeping numbers I’ve missed being able to laugh at past midnight and waking up past lunch with them, walk the halls and noon, choosing to complete schoolsay hello to people I know on my way work along a wildly unconventional to class, and work with people face-toof adolescents timeline and going about my day face instead of via Canvas discussions. have social with absolutely no predetermined Nothing beats in-person interaction anxiety schedule to govern my life. when it comes to learning as well, and disorder. The I expect the biggest change to it’s safe to say I won’t miss awkward prevalence adapt to upon my return to be the silences in Zoom calls or bad internet was higher in jump in social interaction. While connection when teachers are doling females than learning virtually certainly had its out important information. males perks, an active social life was not one Despite this, social anxiety may NIMH SOURCE of them. Going from interacting with be inevitable. What conversation
9.1%
building bridges Student body last year
skills I had before the pandemic have rarely been used, and I know I’ll be back to trying to make awkward small talk with others about how cold the air conditioning is or how hungry I am for lunch. I expect my social battery might also overload, having to interact with hundreds of people I’ve grown comfortable not having to even think about. However, that’s to be expected. Everyone’s returning to a school environment they haven’t witnessed for a while, so I believe it’s fair to give everyone a period of grace to readjust. Whether you missed CHS’s school environment or are finding it hard to embrace, know you’re not alone, and it’ll take some time to get used to— but if we’ve gotten through a year of learning through a pandemic, there’s no doubt we’ll get through the transih tion back to normal. The views in this column do not necessarily reflect the views of the HiLite staff. Reach Chloe Sun at csun@hilite.org
DANIEL KIM GRAPHIC PERSPECTIVE
Student body this year