The Covid-19 pandemic affected everyone, whether people choose to admit the affects or not. Between when Covid-19 was declared a pandemic and declared over, there were 1,147 days (3 years, 1 month, 22 days). That time is enough to build almost three Empire State Buildings. That was long enough to leave lasting effects on the people living through it.
The different Holy Cross classes had very different pandemic experiences, as well as the rapid and aggressive changes teachers had to deal with during the pandemic as well. Principal John Sullivan worked through all of this, and had to adapt quickly to aid the students and support their needs.
“I think the school as a whole had to become much more flexible, and teachers were required to be more creative in presentation and instruction,” Sullivan stated.
Students were forced to adjust as well, having to rely heavily on teachers for communication. Each grade had their own struggles, whether that be missing the majority of middle school, or missing the start of high school applications. Samantha Shively, class of 2025, had her personal struggles, but had to learn how to adapt.
“So I’m really bad at math, and I’m an in person learner,” Shively mentioned. “I like step-by-step learning, and it was harder to learn math especially, because we weren’t in person, and people were messing around on Zoom which was distracting.”
While this seemed to be the situation for many students, others felt differently, and were able to learn things about themselves. There were certainly struggles for everyone, but some students were able to grow.
“I didn’t even realize that everyday is a gift, and it opened my eyes to how fleeting everything is,” Alexis Buxo, class of 2026, said. “Because something you may not pay attention to in your daily life could just be gone. This has caused me to live in the moment a lot more and appreciate my interactions with different people that I may or may not know.”
Along with the quality of education, the topic of mental health has also surrounded conversations about the pandemic. Many individuals develop personal struggles due to the isolation that came with Covid-19, including students and teachers. Sullivan witnessed this first hand throughout the months during and following the pandemic.
“There’s a decrease in resilience and an increase in anxiety.” Sullivan recounted. “And generally speaking an inability to focus for long periods of time.”
Seeing and experiencing these feelings was very hard on the teachers and administrators of the school. The students, on the other hand, felt them for different reasons. Cara Krot, class of 2027, developed personal struggles due to the pandemic, and it changed some things about daily life for her.
“I’ve heard reports that the middle school years are the most important times in a child’s life. And for half of that time I was only consistently around three people,” Krot reminisced. “Somewhere during the pandemic I started getting really bad panic attacks late at night, it developed into some kind of insomnia. I still sometimes go to sleep and I’ll wake up in a panic attack.”
Many students had this continuous struggle, and many still struggle with their mental health due to the pandemic. Buxo went through things slightly differently, but still left the pandemic affected.
“Pre-pandemic I was a small child so I didn’t really have a perception of other people’s feelings, or other people’s minds/little world,” Buxo said. “I think online, particularly in my class, we could open up more, I could see into others struggles a lot more and allowed me to have empathy and understanding.”
The students and teachers of AHC left the pandemic changed, but the Holy Cross community is still thriving thanks to the support and communication from teachers and students.
