Occasionally during this school year, I find myself daydreaming through a particularly long class about what school used to be. I miss bumping into people in the hallway and seeing everyone’s faces. I miss stopping a friend after class and asking what they thought of the quiz or test. I miss asking a teacher a question after class.

I could use this platform to bemoan every small detail I miss about high school, but then, I think of 2022.

After my self-imposed pity party at noon on a gray Monday, I imagine a time machine. Although vaccine production and administration are being ramped up to stifle the spread of COVID-19, it appears unlikely that high school will return to its true form until late 2021 or early 2022. So naturally, I shift my mind into a more forward-thinking gear. What if we had a time machine? What if we could load the whole world into a single capsule that moves us forward by one year?

I think of Alfred Eisenstaedt’s “V-J Day in Times Square” photo, where U.S. World War II veterans celebrated the end of the war and their return home. In 2022, will we see moments like that across the world?

Suppose COVID-19 is eradicated through some miracle during our absence. Wouldn’t it be incredible if we came home to thriving businesses, churches, sporting events, jobs, and of course, schools?

I was curious to see what Air Academy students miss the most about the form of high school now put on hold.

Junior Peter Braza had this to say about what he’s looking forward to when in-person learning returns, “I want to see my friends, especially during study hall, going anywhere I want during lunch, the vending machines, and having a longer, more normal sports season.”

This testimony from an Air Academy student is not out of the ordinary, with fellow junior Stephen Varnier stating, “I miss being with all my friends and getting to interact with people face to face. It’s difficult to pay attention and stay motivated in online school.”

Back to the time machine, although a year feels like an eternity considering how slow time seems to be moving as of late, I believe that the future is not as out-of-reach as we often make it out to be.

Hybrid learning has now been fully implemented for this semester, adding to a sense of growing normalcy within education.

However, speaking for myself, with the online routine ingrained in my brain and knowledge of how the initial adjustment to online learning in spring 2020 was difficult, returning to full in-person learning in early 2022 is bound to be an equally harsh adjustment.

I believe high school to be an inherently good place that has been mutilated by COVID-19. It’s only a matter of time before it heals.