Nearly one year after the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic, students across Chicago and the suburbs in the US say when it comes to high school, the thrill is gone. Simple pleasures such as getting together with friends in the hallways and catching up over lunch in the cafeteria are displaced by a dystopian (反乌托邦的) landscape of remote learning and virtual extracurricular.
After 11 months of remote learning, and what many teens describe as the soul-crushing disappointment of canceled after school activities, experts say a growing number of teens are now struggling with anxiety and depression due to heightened levels of stress and social isolation.
Still, the following stories shared by high school students from Chicago and the suburbs provide a glimmer of hope that for some, the pandemic-era heartbreak might develop a generation of resilient (有韧性的) young adults who will be better equipped to deal with life' s twists and turns.
Students who participate in speech, an activity that combines drama and public speaking, have been able to continue this school year, albeit (尽管) over the internet. Instead of delivering emotional monologues (独白) and duets (二重唱) to a live panel of judges, they must summon their best performances while looking into a webcam.
" Dueting is so frustrating when it comes to online, " said Jaylah Hogg, 17, a junior at Thornton Township High School in Harvey. " Wi-Fi at my house is pretty good but my partner' s isn' t. So it' s like I' m trying to time her lines in my head because she' s blanking out when she' s talking. Sometimes the judges do hold that against us. "
But it hasn' t been all bad. After nearly a year of remote learning, Deerfield High School freshman Ben Segall, 15, said he was excited that the school was expected to finally welcome students back into the building for a hybrid program later this month.
The pandemic has also crushed the athletic seasons for sports at many high schools including Senn High School in the Edgewater neighborhood. There, Davion Holmes is staying focused on applying to Wilberforce, Ohio-based Central State University.
And with some of the recent updates to the Illinois High School Association' s COVID-19 guidelines, Holmes said he remained hopeful, albeit realistic, about finally resuming his high school athletic career in the months ahead.
" I didn' t want to have to live through a pandemic, but I worked through it, and that' s something I' ll be able to tell my kids and grandkids someday, " he added.