Name: Leo Gorder

Date: 6/13/22

Class: 3

Teacher: Jockers

Crisis

It had been weak like any other. At this point, I was just a normal 6th grader. We all were. Just floating through life, running from class to class with some sense of responsibility. We had no idea of the coming storm. The worst thing we knew was that thing we called a math teacher (AKA Mrs.Brodeur). 

Then, it hit us. Just a small bit at first. A week off of school. So what? We were gonna enjoy it. Then we got told that we were getting another week off. And then they made us put these pieces of paper over our face. No one liked them. Until they decided that we should “zoom” into school. 

So, we did. 

Zoom after zoom, day after day, we learned nothing. Just sitting in our houses listening to teachers talk about subjects unrelated to class because we were not allowed to learn. But most of us didn’t mind. I know I didn’t. I got to sit in my room and play video games while teachers blabbered on and on about things I didn’t care for. But, it just didn’t stop. It got old fast, but as soon as it was here, it was gone… or so we thought.

Summer was here. Which meant 4th of july, icecream, and no school. But with everyone together, the virus was spreading. No longer protected by the safety of our homes, it jumped from person to person like a flea jumps from rat to rat. And then the process repeated itself. Curve flattens,  people meet up, the virus spreads, everyone gets sick, quarantine initiated. 

Eventually, the summer ended, people stopped having fun, and everyone went back to school. 

Except, we didn’t. 

We sat in our rooms listening to teacher after teacher try to teach us based on the things we didn’t learn last year. Word after word. In one ear and out the other. 

I just sat in my room feeling sorry for myself as I played video games and teachers jabbered. I dropped from 92nd to 82nd percentile in math. But no one else did. I was the only one. The year was hard. I struggled throughout it. It felt as though I was swimming through quicksand, sinking deeper with every question I didn’t ask, every class I sat there doing the worksheets but not understanding what I was doing. How long could I keep this up? 

And just as I was about to be swallowed whole, I found Myself sitting in a classroom. First 2 days a week, then 3, then the whole week. I felt like I was learning again. I got to see other people’s faces, and I felt alive. 

 Then, as soon as I had started 6th grade, 7th was over.