Yesterday I proctored the ACTs and the first person that walked through the door was a student I’d known for seven years. The last time I remember seeing him, he was shorter than I and clearly an awkward boy… and suddenly, he’s approaching six feet and very much growing into a much more confident man. What happened?
COVID. That’s what happened.
This junior was in 9th grade the last time we really saw each other, and the schedule for most 9th graders is so busy he was rarely in the library. And then the lockdown cancelled Research Season in the library for two years. This year he’ll be in our space daily in February, allowing us to erase that earlier picture of the kid as our main memory of him.
So many of the students are nearly unrecognizable thanks to 18 months of Zoom and, of course, wearing masks while in our building. I feel like someone owes me that 18 months back, if only to get used to the changes in students I used to know well.
Venn Librarian 
1 thought on “Anyone else missing time?”