It’s been a year of distance learning, and Amelia Kozlowski is sick of learning from her kitchen table.

“Sometimes it’s hard to get through a whole day with zoom classes,” she says. “Staring at a screen that long really starts to hurt my eyes.”

A year into the pandemic, she is assuredly not the only one who feels this way. As the cases rage on across the country and students mark a year of distance learning, the masses are getting sick of it. (Except for a select few, of course.)

Learning from their kitchen table, kids ponder when this all might finally end, a year of learning through a screen, a year of little connectedness, a year of going to school with only half the grade.

A year later, and students are still slogging through long hours at their iPad, trying to focus on distance learning’s few advantages to keep them sane.

“I like zoom, but only because I get an extra hour of sleep. It’s so hard to pay attention,” remarks Sofia Anthony.

Students, trying to understand the lesson from a teacher many miles away or dealing with the famed silent breakout room, are musing that they aren’t getting the same education they received before.

They’re are also shying away from seeking help, with Kozlowski saying that she shies away from participating on zoom because it feels disruptive and the class feels so fast paced.

Kozlowski, Anthony, and Madeline will all assert in a heartbeat they like in person better. The reasons why: they get more done, they’re less distracted, it’s more interactive, and of course that they get to see their friends and have that elusive social interaction.

However, they do think that sometimes the zoom days are a nice break, noting it’s much more draining in person. And, despite all the grievances, students realize that their zoom experience could be much worse, and that teaching on zoom is hard.

“I know how hard it can be for the teachers doing double the work,” Amelia Kozlowski says.

Madeline Wild feels the same. “I think my teachers are doing an amazing job making the zoom people feel included in class and engaged in the lesson,” she says.

In a year where friends are often far apart, Loyola students are pulling a reverse and thanking technology when it comes to connecting with friends.

In a time where many are not able to see their friends in person, students are glad that social media and texting make it easy. For some, the alpha split provides a unique opportunity for connection, too.

“People are more willing to connect with others outside their friend groups…I feel that the fluidness among the students has created a positive energy in the halls,” says junior Madeline Wild.

Teachers, however, are a different story, with students saying it’s been “super hard” to connect with teachers because of the limited amount of time in person and the lack of personal connection on zoom.

In a year where many high schoolers across the country are e-learning full time, Loyola students have few grievances about the hybrid system. Well, that is, except for the infamous alpha split. Students are glad and thankful to be in the building, realizing the alpha split is what got them there, and appreciate Loyola’s commitment to trying to give Ramblers the most “normal” school year possible.

But, they do wish they could be with all of their friends, going to school with their whole grade. “I mean, I like going in person, I just wish it was with our whole grade, you know because we don’t get to see people from L-Z,” says Sofia Anthony.

The statement is echoed loud and clear on the other side of the alphabet. “I miss my A-K friends,” says Madeline Wild.

Students are just glad to be back in the building, and like the social fluidity of the alpha split and the flexibility hybrid learning provides. But that doesn’t mean they’re used to the mix and match schedule.

“It feels like the first day back from summer vacation every morning,” says Wild.