Grueling: A Pandemic School Year

Today I am grateful for the faith that helps me face fear and for the sunshine that returned to our area yesterday after being behind clouds for days.

The word on my mind yesterday was grueling. It is defined as extremely tiring and demanding. This time in a school year gets grueling. Even in a typical year, the last few weeks are tough. Students and teachers alike can have spring fever, be tired of the routine, have an accumulation of lack of sleep. 

It is a busy time as one year is wrapping up at the same time that planning and preparation for the next year is also ramping up. I have seen it each year in my 30-plus in education. Tiring and demanding.

This past year has been anything but typical. In ways, this school year has felt grueling from day one. My school has been in person a vast majority of days. It started with many unknowns. Continued with some level of fear always present, with concern about contracting COVID. Masking and sanitizing necessary, and done responsibly. 

Months later, I feel so grateful that we have been able to be in school, but it has taken a toll. It has come at a price. Day in and day out of added layers, literal and figurative, have left us tired and hanging on to the hope of time off and a more normal school year when we return in the fall.

It doesn't feel grueling all the time. There's plenty of good energy and the usual things that bring smiles when you have hundreds of students and dozens of adults suiting up and showing up each day. But when the tired feeling hits, it's at a deeper level. Because we have had to summon extra energy for the many things the pandemic circumstances have required, we are left more depleted.

What a grueling grind. That's how I felt as I left the school building yesterday. I came home, went for a run in the sun, tired but hopeful. We will make it through these last few weeks of the school year. A day a time time.

A day at a time. Still grueling, but manageable.