I reluctantly reach my arm to my nightstand and smack my phone to turn off my 6:50 a.m. alarm, a little different from my usual 8:29 a.m. one, but it will do. I quickly hurry to get up and get dressed, but first, I let out a sigh of anxiety, stress, tension and everything that could possibly build up inside of me and try to put on jeans for the first time in what feels like a century.

My first day of school in a full year, my first time having to wear a backpack in months, my first time seeing a hundred or so classmates all in one in one fixed area since March, my first time being in a classroom and my first time getting to basically learn non-virtually in what seems like forever.

I drove to school with my brother, Head Prefect Jonathan Cosgrove ’21, who I could tell, from the moment we left the car, lives, breathes and dies the school. He introduced me to everyone in sight and tried to fit in a quick tour of the library printers before my math test. I felt a little intimidated at first. Wait, I’m just kidding, I actually felt incredibly intimidated. I, like every other sophomore, am entering an unfamiliar place with countless unfamiliar faces. It was so much to take on all at once, but I hastily tried to learn the various names of all the buildings and administrators before my first period class, which was quite a big task.

I walked into Rugby 207, my home base for the day, attempting to look like I know the lay of the land and sat next to my fellow English students. It was really nice being able to see the full version of people and not just the slightly blurry,  glitchy boxes on my Zoom screen. I got to see some old friends and some new ones that I was able to make virtually. For each conversation I had, I awkwardly  followed the same script of saying, “How is your quarantine going?” The replies were pretty much all over the place, but the average feedback from the responses  basically summed up to: “Eh.” Each conversation was like running a marathon. My social stamina definitely needs some work, but it is convenient that we are all in the same boat.

I proceeded on to taking my math test in the library, knowing how to perfectly print out my test because of my fantastic brother. A few of my classmates decided to also take the test in the library. The room was abuzz. People were scrambling left and right to get the perfect seat and print their tests. Even though we were all antsy, the library was alive, and I realized that one of the things that I missed the most about the school was the excitement. 

All in all, having school in person makes waking up all the more exciting; even going to bed at night is now filled with crazy experiences to dream about. Nothing had really changed or happened in a long time for lots of students like myself, so it was really nice to spice it up. Until next time- the next cycle’s day one, that is.