By Steven Zhang’24
A warm blanket of sun hits my back as I hop out of the pool. The poking sensation in my eyes as my hair drapes over my face like curtains on a windowsill feels oddly tantalizing. I shake some loose water off, and I walk towards the mountain of athletic bags. The slaps of my wet feet on the concrete quickly assimilate with the rest of my Cross Country teammates. The satisfying and tiring water workout at the St. Mark’s outdoor pool had emptied everything in my stomach, leaving me with an empty cavern for its replacement. I snag my shirt and swing around gates and corners, laughing and running with my friends to the changing room.
I remember standing in front of the kitchen tables, entranced by the emptiness of the tables. The dividers were gone. Last year for COVID, we had set up large, looming dividers that separated every seat from the next. Every time you had something to say, you would either stand over or lean around dividers or simply not talk. The biggest hassle didn’t just come from the inconvenience of chatting, but also the struggle of staying sane as all you could hear was the ringing conversations of other tables. For most freshmen like me, last year had become even harder to make friends and strike up conversations. Every time you sat down and pulled out your chair, you were welcomed into a headspace of both simultaneously painful silence and outside noise. Talking to your friends became a workout. You would be on the brink of falling off the chair, your body facing one direction and your head twisting 90 degrees to the right or left. It was mentally and physically challenging to just not accidentally twist too much and fall off your chair in front of many students.
But that wasn’t even the worst part. Last year we couldn’t even walk straight from one classroom to another across the hallway. Line dividers existed in every hallway. Every time you wanted to switch a direction without making the person behind bump into you, you had to walk the whole distance and then back. Quite frankly, all this was profusely irritating and tiring.
It was a pain to sit down at tables knowing very well that the conversations were going to be at a minimum and going to be very mundane, but at least we could be there. Currently, we don’t have the pesky line dividers in the hallways or the towering dining table dividers. I am glad that we were able to push through a tough school year and give ourselves a reward for finally facilitating the process of being at school. Tables are suddenly filled with bustling students, conversations are heard from every corner of school, and sports games are finally hosted. I am very glad to finally be able to maybe have a normal year. I think appreciation should not come from what we will have, but simply what we have now.
