As students like myself return to hybrid learning, a sense of regularity and liveliness was in the air during my two days of in-person classes. 

My first day back felt somewhat refreshing. Even though I had already attended hybrid learning at 25 capacity in the fall, the atmosphere still had that first day of school feeling.

Something that many people were worried about was safety for people’s health. Obviously with the ongoing pandemic, taking precaution has been everyone’s number one priority, and administration did an excellent job at doing so. Disinfecting desks and placing stickers on the floors to ensure social distancing aided in combating the safety issue.

Throughout my experience in in-person classes, everyone was listening to staff members and following guidelines set by the administration. By doing so, not only did students help decrease the risk of contracting COVID-19 for themselves, but for others as well. I commend those who did so, as it helps open things up and aids in bringing back the “normal”.

Straight away, I could sense the stark contrast in attention levels that distance and hybrid learning each have. During distance, many students have varying energy levels throughout the day, whereas in hybrid, my energy was constant in class and I was much more productive.

Also, there were more students in each of my classes than when online, which made it much more enjoyable. Last semester, I had multiple classes where I was either by myself or with just one classmate. Having more students in each class really helped bring back that classroom atmosphere that was virtually nonexistent during distance learning.

My only concern is the lunchroom situation. Compared to lunchtime during hybrid at 25% capacity in the fall, lunch felt more crowded — which I acknowledge, as 50 percent hybrid will undoubtedly have more students in the lunchroom, but it felt as if there were too many students to safely conduct lunch. 

Overall, I am thankful to have the opportunity to be able to attend classes in person, and as long as everyone honors and follows the guidelines, there shouldn’t be any issues concerning safety.