As high schoolers, we know our break schedule like the back of our hand. We are rewarded a week at Thanksgiving, around 2 weeks at Christmas, and 1 week in April. These breaks give us time to reset, time to be away from our textbooks and computers, time to get a tan in the spring, time to sleep in, and most importantly time to boost our serotonin. We are used to the occasional 1-2 days off in August and September due to the commonness of hurricanes in Charleston but I can confidently say that none of us were expecting 3 ½ days off in the middle of January. That was definitely a first and it was definitely awesome.
The snow days on top of the president’s day off led to an impromptu week of chillness. However as the snow continued to re-freeze, I quickly realized that the following week of school was not going to be easy, slowly but surely forgot what I was learning in my math classes and was bombarded with e-learning assignments. The following week it felt like I had an assessment of some sort in every class, and many of my peers felt similarly. My good friend Olivia Smith had 3 tests in a row on Tuesday, January 28th due to the pushbacks.The experience was unnatural and reinforced the lesson that anything can happen. I felt that it was necessary to discuss the recent transition back to school with my fellow raptors.
First I asked the Raptors “Do you feel you had too much work over the “break?”
Second I asked “I know I have an endless amount of tests and quizzes this week to make up for last week, is this you too? ”
I then asked Raptors to “Tell me about how excited you were each time you got the email that school was canceled”. One student said “I was excited for the early out and having a day off on Wednesday, but I eventually went crazy because I couldn’t go out. Since I live on Daniel Island, I have to cross bridges to get anywhere but because they were iced over I couldn’t leave”. I think we all went a little crazy with this isolation; it definitely started to feel like quarantine. A separate student said, “Every time school was canceled, I got so excited and looked forward to sleeping in again. Genuinely the best feeling ever, especially when we found out about Friday”. Another agreed and wrote “I was so thrilled! I couldn’t control it! I was flipping out all over the place.” I think we can all agree that the feeling does make you jump for joy.
One raptor was stuck out of state all week because of the snow so they were extra relieved that they didn’t have to deal with makeup work and emailing teachers. Another one of our peers told me that they were super excited to finally have snow, but knew that the schoolwork would pile up and that it was simultaneously amazing and dreadful. Beautifully stated! Someone else explained that “Of course, the first thing I’d do was throw on layers of warm clothes and head outside to build a snowman or get into a snowball fight with my siblings or friends. Sledding was a must, even if it meant dragging the sled to the biggest hill we could find in the neighborhood. And when I’d finally come back inside, soaked and freezing but totally happy, I’d curl up with a blanket, a steaming mug of hot chocolate, and maybe a good movie or book.” That sounds like a perfect time!
Next, I asked the Raptors “What was Monday morning like for you? Did the phone ban make it worse? Are you counting down the days till spring break?” Many of the responses looked like this one: “Monday morning was brutal. I was late because of traffic and people driving slowly to avoid ice, so I was tired and not having my phone after a week of endless scrolling was terrible. I want spring break so badly, but this week is so bad I just want the weekend first” One student mentioned that they are first looking forward to the long weekend because of Presidents day before they look forward to spring break . Others addressed that the lateness made it much more bearable, one student had time to watch TV before school which they found relaxing. However even with the lateness, many students still felt as if Monday morning was a harsh reality check. Some raptors forgot about the phone ban until they arrived at school and it was like a slap in the face. One raptor says that “I just want my music. I don’t even mind not being able to go on my phone but I get headaches when I go without music for prolonged periods of time (I’m definitely addicted)” I agree with this, music is so calming and helps in a high stress environment like school.
At the end of the day I thought the snow week was sentimental; in 2018, which was the last time it snowed in Charleston, the class of 2025 was 10 or 11 years old, then miraculously we get snow in our last winter in Charleston before we all go off on our different paths as adults. I mean it feels like just yesterday 10 year old me raced out of my house to the neighborhood hill and went sledding all day long with my siblings. The recent snow reminded us of our inner child and provided us with nostalgic feelings. Although the return to school was quite miserable and our school schedule was all messed up, the bizzarity of it was quite peaceful and it almost seemed like it was mother nature’s graduation gift to us. We all do know what Taylor Swift has to say about snow on the beach! Or maybe you don’t know but you really should know.
