Another year at Bellarmine means new opportunity to meet new teachers and new friends. This year, as you may know, has been quite different. We have to see each other through the thousands of little pixels on our screens, and it has proved much more difficult to communicate. There is not much interaction between students except when one is in a club or can make private calls to one another. I especially feel for the freshmen right now. I understand that you may not have friends or even know what your classrooms look like. To attempt to bridge that gap, this article will hopefully help you know what is going on right now on campus as well as what will happen in the future.
We all understand that there are massive changes to our own schedule. We sleep and wake up far later than we are used to doing. We often eat during the passing period because it’s by far much easier to do so. This change also occurs with our administration and other faculty on campus. When I interviewed Bellarmine principal Mrs. Luscher, she told me that her time on campus has changed as well. Like us, her interaction with students and other faculty members have dwindled. However, with the pilot program, more students and faculty will have the option to come back. Although our campus may be a lot less crowded than it used to be, there is still important work going on. Our school’s kitchen crew, grounds crew, and cleaning crew are hard at work to maintain the beauty of our campus and to ensure that students can stay healthy. Although we may miss our campus right now, when we go back, things will certainly be better because of the work of these people.
The teachers on campus also miss the students very much. Father Moodie says it’s so much harder to teach students remotely, and that online learning is not as ideal because there is a lack of connection, as we are all behind a limited device. Dr. Sullivan also misses seeing her students on campus as well. She no longer has students coming to see her at lunch regarding classes (shoutout to S&D).
As many of us know, the pandemic has not allowed us to bond as we normally would. Right now, we just have to try to push through his stretch, and hopefully, we will be able to return to the normal state of affairs on campus soon. Right now, we should be thankful for all our faculty and staff for helping maintain our campus, running our school, and teaching us during these troubling times.
GO BELLS!