Last year after a long stressful day of school, I had time to kill before track practice. Instead of wasting my time sitting in the terminal waiting, I would find myself interacting with teachers. The routine was to sprint up the gym stairs to B Hall to talk to Ms.Cunningham and Mrs. Kenny-Stein, walk down the auditorium staircase to stop by Mr. Ursino in G hall, and wrap up my tour at I hall to annoy Ms. Sanelli. Seeing these teachers outside a learning environment truly became a highlight of my day, but I didn’t know it would all come to an end so quickly.

When we were put under quarantine, some of us were relieved that this meant a relaxed rest of the school year. But many felt something was missing. Virtual learning strips everyone of normal human interaction. “I love the process of getting to know my students, but virtual instruction creates a definite challenge to the personal connections,” says AP Literature teacher Mrs. Kenny-Stein. “How can we get to know someone better through a tiny screen, or through just seeing their initials?”

I asked senior Jess Nower how she felt about this change. “I tried talking to my teachers like we did before but it just didn’t feel the same. Sending an email isn’t the same as chatting with a teacher in front of her desk.”

It may seem that all is lost, but the best way to grow closer to your teachers virtually is just to act the same as you would in class. By turning your camera on, talking to them, and asking questions when you don’t understand the material, the teacher will get to know you better and hopefully you can grow close to them just as you did before this pandemic.