January 19 2020, the first COVID-19 case was reported in the united states of America. The first COVID related death was reported less than a month later on February 6th in Santa Fe, California. As you all remember, The district of Pasco county as well as others extended out spring break and then switched to online and remote learning to avoid the spread of COVID cases during the early stages. During this time, students graduated in their cars, or took their first year of college in their homes or dorm rooms. This school year, students were given the opportunity to partake in school on campus- buts as long as they followed the health guidelines. With less preparation than before, I wanted to ask the graduate class of 2024 how they have so far experienced their first year of High School. Due to Sunlake COVID Guidelines such as staying 6 feet apart and wearing a mask, I created a google form sheet and sent it out to a few freshman I know and asked them to pass it on. The response was them posting it on their social media stories, resulting in 26 freshman responses.

With a majority of the questions asking how they personally felt during this year, I was able to get their opinions on specifics such as online learning, masks, how they were coping, and if they believed the COVID situation was getting better.

One of the questions I asked is how the Freshman felt overall about COVID-19, using a 1-5 scale (1 being this is the end of the world and 5 is that we are getting better). The mass majority, 84.6% , were in the 2-3 range where they believed we were still in the middle of it all. 3.8% believed things were getting better while on the opposite scale 11.5% believed COVID was still at its worse. The students also expressed their concerns with the rising cases, as well as how they have been personally effected by the virus. Many of the students expressed their fear and disappointment of how Sunlake might switch to remote learning again, and how some students are not following the precautions needed.

“I’m okay for the most part but it’s scary to get notification from like Apple News talking about all the cases and how young people are being affected by it and it worries me during class, which makes it harder to focus.”
– Anonymous freshman student