We as individuals, as a school, and as a community have struggled exponentially these past two months alone trying to acclimate to this new system we now call learning.

It doesn’t seem like learning when most of us only see each other through computer screens or when we can’t recognize our friends and teachers without seeing the bottom half of their faces.

But we continue stumbling in the dark through this uncertain time trying to fill our brains with whatever assignments we are given. We may not be absorbing the information, but at least we turned it in before 11:59 PM.

But this is the kind of thinking that is only hurting students, not helping us learn.

For us, and many other students, a lot of the confusion and frustration that has occurred this past quarter is from the general lack of organization and structure between students and teachers.

Each teacher has a different plan with a different amount of work on different websites and pages to search through. Some teachers dock late points, and some don’t. Some change the assignments we’re supposed to turn in when we’re already at home, and most of the time, nothing about assignments or the workload is ever clear.

The cherry on top is that teachers aren’t even assigning too much work for their own class. It’s the fact that the work from all of our classes together isn’t manageable, especially while trying to search for everything and understand it at home, which is where all of this is being dumped on us.

We’re not asking teachers to have all the answers and to be able to get this right on the first try. This is the first pandemic we’ve experienced, and no one should have that much responsibility, especially the teachers, staff, and administration when we know how hard they’re working and how much they’re risking during this time as well just for our well-being and education.

We also know Creek is known for being rigorous with its workload, and teachers have a job to do.

But constant confusion and frustration wasn’t something anyone wanted either.

Having a hybrid system has been a great opportunity for students who still want an in-person experience this year instead of just staying home full-time. Plus, it’s been an option for students who feel that learning home full-time isn’t possible for their learning style either.

But this system also means that consistency and clarity will never be an option for anyone either. For most students who are already struggling to stay focused and organized, this model is only exasperating those problems.

Trying to balance the work we’ve been given in this kind of system is also an impossible task when there isn’t a consistent foundation for students to navigate the mess of trying to find all the assignments like an Easter egg hunt and going back and forth between school and home.

The result is that school has now become a matter of just finishing assignments in time rather than learning and getting a valuable experience out of this year.

As unfortunate as it may be for students right now, the best option for the mental health of students and teachers is choosing to stay at home full-time for the rest of the semester so everyone can come back full time for the rest of the year.

For now, what students need is solid consistency from all teachers on what is due and when, and more than anything, understanding that our work shouldn’t be held in the same regard as any other year because let’s be honest with ourselves, this isn’t any other year.