‘Just five more minutes and then I’ll get up.’ Everyone has their own way of getting up for school but after the holiday’s everyone seems to have a hard time wanting to go back to school. After two whole weeks of sleeping in, staying up late, and celebrating the holidays eventually the morning alarms and bedtimes start again. 

Some people travel over the winter break and get used to the different time zones, so when it’s time to come back the jet lag could be something they struggle with. Most kids are used to waking up and doing things on a schedule, some people however just get up and go to school. Sophomore, Ana Pacheco, traveled to her grandparents over break who live in Hawaii, Hawaii is four hours behind us and she struggled to get back to time here in Texas being that she got back two days before school. 

 “I went to Hawaii to visit my grandma and grandpa but it’s about four hours behind us and I came back two days before we went back to school so I had a hard time trying to get my schedule back together,” said Pachecho 

This was the last winter break for seniors and some didn’t even feel like coming back to school and felt as if they were already out of high school. Seniors have had loads of weight on them lately with college applications, test scores, and acceptance letters so that when they get a break they take it and enjoy it. Senior, Owen O’Connor, felt that the winter break was his way of getting away from school and enjoying time away from the stress.

“Honestly I needed this break, there was so much going on with school and it was all going by too fast and with college things it was becoming stressful. I used the break as a way to clear my mind from school and enjoyed my time off,” said O’Connor

However, there are some students who were ready to come back to school, after spending two weeks off students were ready to get back to working and getting back to a normal routine. Everyone has a different story about how they spent their break but some don’t celebrate Christmas or New Year’s so they use the break as time off of school. Junior, Makayla Bledson, was ready to start the new semester and get back to learning.

“I was ready to come back because I don’t celebrate the holidays during winter break so every year during the break I enjoy the time off until I start to get bored so I get eager to go back to school,” said Bledson

COVID-19 has raised in numbers and with the new variant Omicron, cases have spread quickly, this makes traveling and family gatherings harder. As the school got back, the number of cases between staff and students increased tremendously causing Mansfield school district to shut down for two days over the Martin Luther King Jr holiday. Freshman, Hannah Kuthe, doesn’t think attending school is a safe option and feels as if virtual learning would be a safer option.

“Coming back to school was hard because there are so many cases that I think the best bet would be to go virtual. I know it can be harder for some but in order for our environment to be safe I think that would be the way to go.”

Teachers have their own life outside of just school and teaching, so even when they get a break they enjoy it the best they can. Teachers are working hard to make sure their students are taken care of. Much more teachers are human and the school can become a lot for them, they need breaks and rest. Science teacher, Lindsay Tashman, was down having to come back and get back to teaching and getting back to a routine.

“I felt kinda sad whenever we come back to school it was really hard to get used to it again because of new years being right beforehand and having to wake up early again after staying up late that night but I don’t like waking up early so I was really sad about that.” said Tashman.