Coronavirus Conundrum

The Coronavirus pandemic has created restrictions and guidelines that have changed the way students and teachers at Mountain View High School go about their daily lives.

Who hasn’t been affected by this Coronavirus conundrum? Schools were shut down last spring and things still aren’t back to normal in September. Many students decided to do online classes while others opted for learning at school. The students that do in-person schooling must wear a mask at all times and have to do their best to socially distance themselves from others. Sporting events have fewer spectators and many events have been cancelled altogether. All of the students at Mountain View have been affected by the Coronavirus in some way or another. I interviewed some students and teachers to see how they feel about Coronavirus and how it has impacted them.

David Hare is a senior wide receiver for the football team at Mountain View. On top of football, David plays basketball so he has a broad view of the effects of coronavirus on team sports. Like many, he has seen how common things such as practice and games have been changed as a result of the Coronavirus. Talking about some of the changes he has seen, David said, “The coaches have to wear masks and there are lots of precautions taken during practice and at games. One of these precautions is that there can only be 50 people on the sidelines at games which means most of the football team isn’t allowed to dress for Varsity. This hasn’t been the case in past years.” Teams and athletes are doing the best they can to follow these guidelines to try and make sure the season goes on. David was affected directly by the Coronavirus when a starting player for the team had to be quarantined for two weeks. This meant that a replacement would be throwing to David. Hare stated, “When a key player was quarantined, the team and I had to put our trust in a sophomore. The transition went really well and the backup player really stepped up to the challenge.” David was really excited about how the transition went, but was not surprised that the team stepped up to the challenge. David later talked about how it was hard to get used to the restrictions at first, but he has adjusted to them and the restrictions don’t bother him that much now.

Mike (name has been changed) is a junior at Mountain View High School. He was recently quarantined for two weeks and just recently returned to campus. When he found out that he had to be quarantined, Mike said, “At first I was a little surprised and shocked. When I realized that I would have to be quarantined for two weeks I was a little annoyed. I was frustrated because I wouldn’t be able to go to school, see my friends, or play basketball with my team.” Being quarantined can be a very frustrating and boring situation. You can’t do many common things like go to school or hang out with friends. After being quarantined for a little, Mike remarked, “Being quarantined was really hard at first. It took me a while to get used to it, but once I did, it gave me a different perspective on life. I really started to appreciate the simple things like talking with friends and going to school.” Mike was surprised that he gained something positive out of this unfortunate experience. When I asked him what things he missed the most, Mike said, “I missed playing basketball with my team and being able to see my friends. I luckily got out of quarantine soon enough to try the Travy Patty, but in general, it got really lonely and boring sitting at home and it is something I hope I never have to do again.” Many other students at our school have been quarantined and I bet they feel the same way.

Coach Faux is the varsity boy’s basketball coach and a math teacher. He has seen the drastic changes created by this pandemic affect both the classroom and athletics here at Mountain View.  In the classroom, he hasn’t had to change what he teaches or the ways he teaches it, but he has had to change the ways he interacts with students. Coach Faux stated, “The main thing that has changed is the interaction with students. We have to make sure to social distance which makes it harder to do group work. Masks also make it harder to communicate because you can’t see facial expressions or hear each other as well as you normally could.” I never really thought about how much masks really change communication. This year, I have had to repeat myself way more than ever before. Coach Faux said he has seen more drastic changes on the basketball court though. Many of the summer tournaments the basketball team was planning on doing were cancelled. With regard to the challenges the basketball team has faced, Coach Faux said, “We have some new players so not being able to play as much has really hurt our development. We were planning on playing 50-60 games, but ended up only playing about 15-20. All these tournaments being cancelled was pretty devastating to the team.” Athletes of all sports have seen severe changes happen to their sport this summer and fall. So many events have been cancelled or postponed which has really hurt the kids participating in these sports.

Coronavirus has impacted just about everyone across the world. Most of the consequences of the coronavirus have been negative and little good has come out of it. Sporting events have been cancelled, schools have gone online, and people have been quarantined. As a society, we have gotten used to things like wearing masks and social distancing, things I never saw coming last year. The coronavirus has been an unforgettable experience and hopefully it ends as soon as possible.