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My alarm rang off, signaling the start of yet another day of classes. Blinking sleepily, the numbers 6:30 blurred together in the backdrop of the dark early morning sky. Resisting the urge to hit five more minutes, I quickly climbed out of bed. Oh wait! Today’s another day of face-to-face classes! Grabbing breakfast and getting dressed in the classic PE uniform, I quickly slipped on a mask and dashed out the door, intent on beating the morning traffic.
Online
My alarm rang off, signaling the start of yet another day of online classes. 7:30, it read. I was about to hit the snooze button before I realized that today wasn’t a typical day. Oh, they’re having face-to-face classes today. After almost two years of the pandemic, the virus has started to die down, and things have slowly begun to normalize. Soon, people started going out more frequently and, slowly, everything started opening up. Even my school, MGC New Life Christian Academy, followed suit. On March 23, my family found out that classes would be resumed in person. Everyone I knew was ecstatic to hear the news—from teachers to fellow classmates alike. Classes are finally back to face-to-face! Although, because the face-to-face setup was optional, some people were still allowed to remain online—I was one of them.
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The car drove along the bumpy concrete of EDSA, surrounded by vehicles of various colors that dotted the busy road. As pandemic restrictions have started lifting, traffic has become a part of everyday life once more. I excitedly peered outside the car window looking at the sight of passing cars—something oddly missed during the lockdown. BGC’s roads have become as packed as they once were as schools reopened and workplaces have transitioned to blended setups.
The car soon entered the familiar green gates and slowly came to a stop in front of the lobby drop-off. Greeted by the school nurse as I embarked, I scanned my QR code on the screen while scanning my temperature—protocols that have now slowly become second nature. As the elevator doors slid open with a ding, I entered, carefully observing the fluorescent yellow social distancing stickers on the floor.
Reaching the sixth floor, I was welcomed once more with the sight of more yellow stickers that dotted the hallway—indicating proper foot traffic protocol. I smiled widely as I saw the faces of my fellow students running late while waving excitedly.
Online
I quickly did my morning routine. As soon as the clock read 8:30, I began to log in to Zoom. Since today was Thursday, all of us would be meeting with our cell groups. Certain cell groups were held online to cater to students and teachers that weren’t able to attend face-to-face classes. As soon as the Zoom session began, I saw familiar faces together on the screen. One screen showed my cellgroup mates huddled together in the strangely familiar chess room, while the other showed my cellgroup leader. Time went by quickly as we had our discussion through Zoom, bringing about a sense of familiarity as it was being held in Zoom.
F2F
Arriving at my cell group room, I reached out my foot to open the doors with the newly-installed foot pedals. I greeted my cell group mates, settling on green seats surrounding a table where one of our computers was connected to a Zoom meeting—bridging our discussion with our online cell group mate. Ecstatic greetings such as how was your week? Have you done this assignment yet? and Long time no see! were soon exchanged with laughs being heard from time to time. Finally settling down after catching up, we began our discussion while hearing the inputs of our online cell group mate from time to time as she spoke through Zoom behind the screen.
As the clock struck 9:30, we all stood up, said our goodbyes, and headed up towards the gym. The familiar squeaks of rubber shoes on slippery floors once more filled the heated gym as students made their way to PE class. Told to form a large circle, I passed by an open computer and quickly waved at the online students who watched through Zoom.
Online
Pretty soon, it was time to start doing PE classes. As the Zoom room opened, the familiar and nostalgic view of the 7th-floor gym showed. Mr. Gico quickly greeted us and told us the assignments we had to fulfill to get our participation in class. As we watched our classmates do their PE face-to-face, I began to do warmups in my room, following the tiny screen on my laptop while waving hi to a passing classmate through Zoom.
F2F
The familiar warm-ups were accomplished and class matches began soon after. Shuttlecocks flew through the gym as the class practiced their badminton skills, with the occasional look out! and the thud of a volleyball reverberating through the gym from a spike across the volleyball court. Having PE class through Zoom is incomparable to the thrill of playing physical sports face-to-face with fellow classmates.
As the bright red digital numbers of the gym clock turned 10:30, the class slowly made their way down towards the auditorium, which had been converted into a large classroom designed for social distancing. Tables organized in widely spaced rows filled the auditorium as students filed in, claiming seats. 11:00, read the clock, as Mrs. Kho entered the buzzing auditorium. Tech was set up, and the Zoom profiles of our online classmates were projected on the huge LED screen.
Online
A few warmups and badminton practices later, it was our Oral Communications class. Despite our view being limited to the laptop webcam, it was still so interesting seeing how everyone interacted with each other through Zoom. The usual “What’s happening right now?” routine started as Mrs. Kho began her class.
F2F
“What’s happening right now?” signaled the start of Oral Communication class, with a microphone being passed around to compensate for the large expanse of the auditorium. Students quickly raised their hands—with the sight of physical hands in the air painting a stark contrast to 2D Zoom graphics. Even classroom skits are now once more a part of face-to-face classes—bring back great memories from our pre-pandemic school days.
Online
Hearing the cheers and laughter of my classmates together face-to-face gave me goosebumps. Time passed by pretty quickly as my classmates enjoyed themselves—performing the skits they had practiced during the class while I gazed like an observer behind the screen. Once class came to an end, I quickly logged off Zoom and headed to lunch.
F2F
Soon, the auditorium clock flashed 12:30, and students began to pack their things and make their way down to the Lobby 2 waiting area. Certain seats were blocked off with large caution tape to enforce social distancing. While waiting to return home, I decided to strike up a small conversation with friends and classmates—sharing our experiences with the new in-person setup with many of the things we enjoyed.
Seeing my car arrive through the driveway, I once more scanned my QR code and my temperature and made my way towards the car, waving to the kuya guard as I passed by him.
Online
After everybody else went home and freshened up, it was eventually time for a joint session of online classes. As our Reading and Writing and Bible teachers were online, we would be having those classes through Zoom as we would normally do. Logging in, my laptop greeted me with familiar rectangles that housed my classmates’ faces. The familiar backgrounds in their respective rectangle housings lighted up on my laptop brought a sense of nostalgia and familiarity. We swiftly greeted the teacher as usual, and it slowly became strangely familiar to see my classmates on their own individual screens.
F2F
Spared by the light midday traffic, I quickly arrived home, disinfecting various items that I brought with me to school as I prepared to once more log onto Zoom to begin my afternoon synchronous class. Gridded bright windows once more filled my screen with familiar faces behind a screen once more.
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