It’s only because of concerns for the health of my parents that I attend virtual school, therefore I operate for Eye of the Tiger from the floor of my bedroom eating Reese’s Cups at eight in the morning, while nearly everyone else gets masked up for school each day. It is not bad, it’s just never orthodox. While everything else seems to be calming down, besides Jack Frost ruining the entire state of Texas, and other parts of the United States, I anticipate staying virtual until the end of the school year and getting fully inoculated by the beginning of the next school year. In the meantime, I’ll have to settle with Roseville Student Virtual Learning Academy (RSVLA). 

The RSVLA is an interesting endeavor; combining many students from the various schools in the district, making a virtual high school. It’s jarring to see some friends from other schools in a conference meeting. More importantly, from my experience, classes get quiet as the periods progress. Students either stay focused or stay below focus, while teachers instruct from either their classroom or their respective residences. Whenever the teacher reaches out, silence. Breakout rooms often dwell in silence, with exceptions. This doesn’t happen very often, but it happens in every class that I attend. It also makes an awkward class session. Whenever a Spanish teacher reaches out for their students, there comes silence for five seconds. Instruction itself hasn’t been drastically changed, compared to last semester.

Overall, it’s been quiet, very quiet, at the Virtual Academy, but for now, these will be my stomping grounds for my Eye of the Tiger work et al.

With that being said, it doesn’t make the students’ experience when they attend school in-person less ominous, as they go through a semester without in-person rallies, no sports until mid-March, a third of the student body depleted, and not much noise outside during lunch as there was in the past. Classes, let alone the entire campus became quiet as well. All students do at school nowadays is walk to and between classes, sit down, and repeat until lunchtime. School became ominous and repetitive these days, no matter who or where.

So, what will happen next? Well, I suspect things will slowly, and then progressively improve, as more vaccines roll out, and case numbers deplete. If you ask me, perhaps school will be in-person for most, if not all students by fall, if everyone does their part, meaning masking up, and when available, getting vaccinated. I am optimistic that it will happen, because then, all the noise will slowly and gradually reappear at our schools. The thing that makes a difference is staying aware.