Catlin Gabel students hope for normalcy after vaccines
By Torin Hough ‘24
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. Photo by the U.S. Secretary of Defense licensed under CC BY 2.0
Less than a month and a half after the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines were approved for emergency use by the FDA, 24.7 million doses have already been administered, with 3.8 million people fully vaccinated. Despite new, more infectious variants, depressing totals of 4,000 deaths on Jan. 26 alone and over 25 million reported cases and 425,000 deaths in the U.S, and a slower-than-expected rollout, the vaccine offers glimmers of hope for life after COVID-19.
Pushed away from their activities and friends and into online schooling, many teenagers are eagerly anticipating life after vaccinations.
“I’m looking forward to seeing my friends on campus,” one Catlin Gabel (CGS) Upper School student said. Senior Dylan Lian agreed that he was excited “to go back to school and meet in person with [his] friends again,” noting the difficulties of socializing online.
Many CGS students couldn’t wait to see their extended families in person again, anticipating “going to NY to see the rest of my family,” “seeing my grandparents in the UK,” “going to the Bay Area to see my family there,” and “see[ing] my grandparents and family in China.”
“Hugs,” someone added.
“Not being trapped in my home 24/7,” Donnie Reuther, a ninth grader, hoped for.
Others also desired a life more active than what they are currently experiencing.
“I’m looking forward to traveling for sports competitions” junior Ava Yu said, while Ben Bockmann, a senior, was “looking forward to doing sports without masks.”
Above all, students wanted some semblance of normalcy in their lives again.
“I’m looking forward to going to the movie theater,” someone said. Another awaited “going out into public places and not having to worry about it.”
“I also am looking forward to not being in constant paranoia about getting sick,” Kennedy Kass, junior, mentioned.
Still, some find the concept of returning to school a mixed blessing. One person wished for 9 a.m. start times to stay, and though sophomore Cole Grant was “looking forward to seeing more people and going to real school,” he is “going to miss going to school in [his] room.”
Already, with announcements of return to in-person schooling, life is beginning to creep back to normal. A true return to pre-COVID-19 life, however, likely will not come until, optimistically, the new school year.