At the start of the 2020 school year, McNick had 15 transfer students. Students transfer for many different reasons such as better athletics, better education, and better school environments and being a transfer student has its own set of challenges, even more so during the Covid-19 pandemic. The current set of regulations and mandates make it challenging to take part in athletics, classroom activities, and social activities, at a time when transfer students should be getting to know their new school and other students.
Along with a better school environment and better education, sports can also be a major reason why a student may choose to transfer schools as it can give more opportunity and a better learning experience of the sport. During this pandemic, sports can still provide a little bit of help for transfer students. “I made the decision to transfer because, I wanted to be able to play football more,” junior Jackson Klein said.
“I met [other students] through football lifts but also because Cole Fithen was friends with McNick boys,” Klein said.
Even with all the opportunities involved with transferring, especially with meeting new people through sports, there are still challenges.
“I feel like if there wasn’t COVID, I’d be hanging out with a lot more people and meeting a bunch of people here… I just feel like the classroom environment is a little different and awkward,” junior Gabby Gruppo said.
“If we would’ve transferred when there was no COVID we’d know everyone by now but since there’s COVID people are sticking to their select [friends] and not really branching out,” Klein added.
The challenges are seen by the transfer student, the teachers, and other McNick students. Teachers view transferring schools during the pandemic as a very difficult transition. Masks make communicating in general very difficult and even more difficult for transfer students who have to communicate, but communicate with other students and teachers they didn’t previously know.
“I get to know [the transfer students] a bit to find out who they already know, and sit them with people they know [to make it easier],” Theology teacher Teresa Davis said.
Even in a pandemic, McNicholas’s transfer students are seeing the rewards to transferring, such as continuing to play and grow as an athlete, succeeding in the classroom, and meeting new people.
The McNicholas Milestone 