Bellarmine is preparing for a January return to school at 25 percent capacity. This is following Governor Jay Inslee’s lockdown orders for the holidays where cases will, hopefully, drop. It will be interesting to see how this works with the alphabet and which people will be going on which days. Obviously there is a lot of uncertainty regarding this issue.  The confidence in the return plan depends on how effectively and quickly the vaccines move out and if cases reduce over the holidays. There is no doubt this uncertainty causes stress, so it is important to know what students think of this idea.

A senior cross country runner Thomas Reis said, “It will be different, but I’m willing to try it out.”

Another senior Rebecca Chow said, “At least it is something. It will be a little weird with so few people per class though. Lunch will also be interesting.”

Sophomore Aidan Moore said, “I don’t have much of an opinion on it.”

This experience will be different for everyone involved. Not just because of the reduced seating at lunch tables or the masks we now wear, but because of the emotion behind it. It appears the excitement of returning to campus is matched equally and oppositely by the anxiety of the pandemic