When high school student Alex Argov returned to in-person classes, he discovered a new motto that helped him readjust to the new social environment.
The first two years of high school are rough; entering a big pool of unknown is extremely intimidating. However, isolate students for their first two years, and some are left in an expanse of water much bigger than a pool.
In junior high, I had my clique. I was good with my clique, and I hadn’t practiced making new friends in years. I was an introvert, willingly so. Then the pandemic struck, sending me into the depths of isolation.
When in-person classes finally started again, my social skills were seemingly nowhere to be found. As my peers took big strokes toward reconnection, my feet felt like a rusty ship anchor, dragging me deep down in the water. Slowly, I began drowning, my body paralyzed despite efforts to stay buoyant. All around me people floated, while I sank deeper and deeper and the motivating colors of conversation faded, until they disappeared completely.
The lack of personal connection in my life further discouraged me from approaching people. I walked through the halls of school like a ghost, feeling as though people strolled right through me, dissuading me from reaching out. Sitting by myself in the library at lunch, I wrestled with papers to appear busy whenever I felt people gazing sorrowfully into my interaction-less soul.