To this day, I can’t believe I missed almost my whole middle school experience. After I heard the news, I thought I’d be going back to school on Monday after the weekend. Little did I know, I wouldn't be going back to school for a year and a half.

In 6th grade I heard there was a new virus going around but didn’t think much of it. I thought it wouldn’t affect me or it would be over quickly. I was entirely wrong. Over that weekend, this virus I thought was just a small sickness was announced as a Global Pandemic. At the time, I didn’t understand what that meant or didn’t think it was that much of a big deal. My parents seemed anxious or nervous about this announcement though and I was really curious why, and what was going on. When they announced students wouldn’t be going to school, at first I thought it was cool and I got excited in a way thinking that I got to stay home for a while and didn’t have to go to school. But once I finally understood, I was nervous.

I have always been just like my mom. I’ve always had her passion and her care for people, but I’ve also had to live with her anxiety. Even when I was around eight years old, I hated being separated from people and that's still a struggle to this day. Even when I was younger, I was really nervous to socialize and meet new people and make new friends in school. Not having to be in school for the rest of 6th grade was nice in a way because I always got anxious for school.

Along with the rest of 6th grade, I spent the whole 7th grade learning from home. It was hard at first but I got the hang of it. Looking back now, I barely remember things from that year and I was ready to be back in school by the end of that year.

Fast forwarding to that summer, I got to see more friends and was able to do more activities. After that summer had ended, I finally was able to go back to school. Part of me was the most excited I've been in a long time, but the other part of me was really nervous. I spent a year and a half without any in person school and had to learn mostly everything online. I was nervous that the pandemic affected my learning, my social skills, and had heightened my anxiety. It took me a long time to adjust to being in school. I felt very anxious for a while because everyone else had been in school. But I then remembered I had friends who were in the exact same spot as me and probably felt the same way so I knew it would be okay.

After a few months I was used to being in school and I wasn’t as apprehensive about it. There were still times when I got nervous but it was kept to a minimum. Once I’d gotten all the anxiety and apprehension off my back, I loved being back to somewhat normal and getting my social skills and learning back on track. I’ve really enjoyed being back in school and getting things back to normal after something that really affected me and I wasn’t sure if it would go away.

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