SLU High, from the start of my freshman year, has been my second home. I love SLUH, it’s a place of comfort for me and I feel at home here. Now, though, Covid is putting that to the test. 

For me, despite valid arguments on both sides of the issue, the decision to go back is truly a puzzling one. The same day that the total return was announced, Missouri reported 2,216 new Covid cases, which is hundreds more than any day last spring, when we were forced into virtual learning. The idea that we can go back now and have no problems simply because of a few months of experience is, quite frankly, naive, but I digress. There are scientists that can prove me wrong. What science can't back up, though, is why I am now faced with an incredibly difficult decision between two bad options. 

After Thanksgiving break, I can elect to either go in every day with hundreds of students and decreased social distancing measures, increasing the likelihood that I need to quarantine over Christmas, or stay home, sitting by myself in front of a screen, watching as Zoom slowly sucks the battery life from my iPad. I can either be a part of the SLUH community and risk the health of my family, or protect my health but stay isolated from the friends and teachers that my education thrives upon. It’s truly an all or nothing option, although in this case, the ‘all’ is just as bad as the ‘nothing.’ What happened to the middle? What happened to the hyflex model? Why abandon something so quickly that was working so well? As the Prep News reported two weeks ago, the hyflex model was successfully limiting Covid cases in the student body and preventing the need to quarantine. Granted, it wasn’t perfect, but it was a happy medium, something I was comfortable with. Why change that, especially as conditions in the country are rapidly worsening? Now should be the time for caution, but instead I am being forced to either blindly throw myself into an environment I am uncomfortable in or give up the SLUH community that I love all together. 

I understand the fact that a majority of families are comfortable with going back to school, but there are still many families (34%, according to the survey sent out to families) that aren’t. In a world filled with fear and anxiety, increasing the level of stress in those many families seems unwise and unfair. Keeping the hyflex model could help alleviate a lot of that pressure, so it should remain an option for students this winter.