The first “post-Covid” spring trimester is underway, and students feel more content and hopeful than last Spring, yet Covid discomfort lingers.

Beginning of the Spring 2020, the ominous presence of Covid impacted nearly every facet of the school experience. Countless restrictions impacted dorm visitations, shuttles, senior events, classes, dining, and sports. Now, however, that the spread of the virus has slowed and most restrictions have been lifted, people are getting back to their pre-Covid lives.

Masks played a major role during the pandemic as a community to prevent the spread of Covid, but definitely affected students’ sense of normalcy. The inability to see and read facial interactions was interfered with social lives and communication. But for weeks now, that masks have been off.

“Having no mask is for sure one of the changes I have felt that was significant in bringing back the sense of normalcy,” said Victoria Hop, second-year senior from Mexico City.

“Wearing a mask was very uncomfortable, although it did help,” she said. “I feel the class dynamic is better without the mask because you could see other people’s expressions.”

Covid is by no means gone: on April 2 there were more than 490 million cases worldwide, according to the Worldometer Covid tracker, and more than six million deaths. From March 26 – April 1, Williston’s Covid dashboard reported zero student cases and one non-student case.

Kiko Xu,  a junior from Beijing, feels that overall campus life is back to normal, more or less.

“This term is getting normal but it is sometimes weird because there are many cases around the world and then there are a lot of worries,” she said. “But inside the school it feels better because we aren’t wearing masks and there aren’t many cases.”