The common thought is that everyone is sick of the COVID restrictions for the past year. But what aspect of being back in school are the students liking? The COVID-19 outbreak forced many schools to shut down in 2020 and depend on online learning from home, including Milford High School.

The changes throughout the year were rapid, from online learning to hybrid to in-person learning with many safety guidelines in place; most kids are excited to be back full-time with less restrictive COVID safety regulations. But are students glad to be back or do they miss being online and having the freedom to learn while sitting in their own room?

The COVID era during the 2020 school year was very unfavorable for some, forcing students to work online.

While the learning itself was more difficult, it was the extracurricular activities that had m

any students most frustrated last year. Senior hockey player, Brenden Mazatics experienced these difficulties during his junior year hockey season.

“The hockey season was very difficult for me because I was afraid of being quarantined,” he said. Mazatics also has a preference of where he likes to learn best. “I think working in school is better because you get to do group work, which makes it easier to learn.” Mazatics’ opinion on in-person learning versus virtual is shared by many students at Milford.

Many students are looking forward to consistent learning schedules after the safety restrictions changed multiple times last year.

These changes included students being exposed to full online learning, to asynchronous days where they would go back for two days a week, and to four days in school with one asynchronous day. While the learning was tough, students shared that the hardest part of last year was losing out on so many fun events. “The most frustrating part,” said senior Zack Bonza-Brodie “was the start of football season to the end of semester one.”

The fact that the pandemic continued much longer than  most people originally anticipated has also led to frustration.

“It was the hardest when we went online for the second time,” said Layla Perry.

Most students would agree that time during the pandemic was difficult, but the presence of learning at your own house was a pleasure in some aspects to others.

“I like not having online school, but hate getting up early,” said Bonza-Brodie. He is enjoying being back in school rather than online, but a difficult challenge he needs to adapt to is the early start times of “normal” school. The luxury of online school during COVID came with a learning environment within your own room.

“I miss waking up and being taught while still being in bed,” said Ethan Groh. Students like Groh and Bonza-Brodie were appreciative of online learning in this way, as were many other students of Milford High School.

Most students agreed the changes during COVID affected their lives drastically. Being back full time in school is something we haven’t experienced in over a year.

While most students enjoyed being back in school, many of them still miss the several benefits from online learning. Overall, COVID has impacted many people in various ways, including our education format, but there is hope for a healthy and safe future ahead of us.