As another year begins, a new class of Dons is welcomed to Aragon. Due to virtual learning last year, however, around half of the student population is coming to campus in person for the first time.
Both freshmen and sophomores have had to adjust to a bigger campus. For freshman Yael Boaz, Aragon is much different than the private K-8 school she came from.
“[The biggest difference was] either the really big campus or the amount of people,” Boaz said. “There are hundreds of people here, [but] in my old school, … there were only 200 in total. My grade graduated [with] 19.”
Sophomore Trish Clemente had a similar reaction when she stepped foot onto campus for the first time last year during hybrid learning.
“The school was big,” Clemente said. “I got lost between the hallways.”
On the other hand, sophomore Benjamin Ricket was not as disoriented by the bigger campus.
“[The campus is] laid out differently than my middle school’s and there are … more buildings,” Ricket said. “But … other than that, the classrooms are similar. It’s a bigger school but not so much bigger that it feels overwhelming.”
“One of those years [is] already done and it feels like it didn’t happen”
Some sophomores feel like they missed a year of their high school experience due to distance learning.
“It’s nice to be back in school and among people … especially because we’re in our sophomore year now,” Ricket said. “There are four years of high school. One of those years [is] already done and it feels like it didn’t really happen. I did not get to know any new people. While I know clubs … happened last year, I personally did not want to spend any more time on Zoom than I had to.”
Some sophomores, like Ricket, feel out of place since their last year of in-person school was in middle school.
“I still think of myself as an eighth-grader,” Ricket said. “[The freshmen] seem like seventh-graders.”
The school environment is just as new to some sophomores as most freshmen.
“I feel like we’re … at the same level as the freshmen because I still don’t know the entire campus that well,” said sophomore Rachel Ma. “I’ve never been in the theater or [even] on the football field much.”
Many sophomores found it hard to connect with their classmates through a screen.
“A lot of communication [is conveyed through a person’s] body language and you can’t really tell that through Zoom,” Ma said. “[Being in-person adds] a more human element than a square on the screen [does].”
More than just the difficulty of interacting on Zoom, many felt less motivated to socialize.
“Honestly, I didn’t make friends online,” Clemente said. “[I might have] talked to them, but I didn’t really know if I should call them my friends until I came to school and met them in-person.”
Being in-person has allowed underclassmen the opportunity to understand and experience the Aragon community better.
“I probably wouldn’t have noticed if you put me into San Mateo High School classes [instead of] Aragon classes because it was all over Zoom,” Ma said. “It’s just so much easier to be spirited when you’re together and everyone’s having fun and celebrating.”
However, Clemente found that teachers were able to maintain school spirit in online classes too.
“Teachers always talked about Aragon,” Clemente said. “[Teachers said things like] ‘If we were at Aragon, my classroom would look like this,’ and ‘If we were at Aragon, you would have lunch [at] this time.’”
This year, some freshmen felt school spirit as soon as they stepped on campus.
“Aragon has been really great [at] making freshmen feel welcome,” Boaz said. “[Clubs are great] because I [get] to meet people.”
Freshman Chloe Gee has also found clubs helpful for connecting the Aragon community.
“I’ve joined G.S.A. and Aerospace,” Gee said. “I think clubs at Aragon are more established.”
“I would’ve missed out on so much if I hadn’t been able to come back on campus”
Despite the challenges of the past year, both class grades are glad to finally be at Aragon.
“Being on campus is so important for me … because this year … my classes are harder than they were last year,” Ma said. “It would be much harder for me to keep up and learn all the [new] material over Zoom. I would’ve missed out on so much if I hadn’t been able to come back on campus.”
Gee is glad to be on campus as well.
“It’s a nice change of pace … just being there [at school] and having a different environment,” Gee said. “[Going to high school] is a big change. As a kid, you’re always reading those books about being in high school … [and] it’s definitely a big milestone.”
All in all, many students are excited to spend the 2021-22 year on campus.
