It is always hard for freshmen to get used to high school, but this year has been especially challenging for students starting high school in the middle of a global pandemic. It’s hard to only be able to see classmates off of a screen, or only half of their face and having to keep 6 feet apart.

Freshmen at Wauwatosa West are in the middle of the year at a new school, with some participating in fully-virtual school, and some utilizing a combination of online and in-person schooling.

For West freshman Mia Weber, being in school introduced new challenges she didn’t think that she would have to deal with, not just academically but also socially.

“We can’t really talk to people much, because we have to be six feet apart, so it is hard to become friends with people that aren’t somebody I already know,” said freshman Mia Weber.

“School is something that is already hard enough without the pandemic, but now that we can only go in two days a week, I am having a hard time keeping up with assignments and learning the things I need to know,” said freshman Marissa Hollander.

The school year brought about a set of challenges, with the increasing risk of the pandemic, and learning how to deal with the new responsibilities of being in high school and a new social environment.

“School is something that is already hard enough without the pandemic, but now that we can only go in two days a week, I am having a hard time keeping up with assignments and learning the things I need to know,” said Hollander.

Other freshmen agreed with her statement, like Keira DiCastri, a member of the Tosa West swim team, who tried a different approach to meeting new people. She did this by joining different clubs, but she ended up facing the same problems.

“Even if you join a team or club you have to be spread out so you can’t do as much team bonding activities,” DiCastri said.

Because of COVID-19, most non-athletic clubs are being held over Zoom. This has also been a struggle for some students throughout the beginning of the year.

“I think clubs are an important part of the Tosa West experience. Even though we have clubs over Zoom, it’s not the same as meeting people in person and creating bonds with them,” said Hollander.

High school is a stage of schooling that introduces students to a new set of responsibilities, especially in the academic sense, where they need to learn how to connect with other students, and how to learn as a group.

Due to COVID-19, students aren’t learning these new skills, and many of them may face problems in the long run.

Freshmen also struggle with asking vital questions, because of the limited time in school.

“It’s been hard to communicate with teachers since they get a lot of emails and may not see mine,” said Hollander.

Other freshmen find two days in school is not enough and struggle to connect with course information.

“It’s a lot of work, and it is more hard than normal, because the teacher can’t teach us about the things, so I can’t understand it as much as I want to,” said West freshman Mia Weber.

Going forward, most freshmen know that it will be difficult, but they want to take on the challenge of tackling the new year at Wauwatosa West.