With the sudden hit of a global pandemic, COVID-19 has made the school year particularly stressful for teachers, other staff, and students. Many people have dealt with family issues, not being able to see their relatives, friends, and dealing with keeping their grades up.

Manoli Karageorgos is a freshman on the JV football team. He is very passionate about playing and wants to further his football career at a D1 college.

“Not being able to attend camps on campus, visit colleges, talk to coaches because of dead periods, and just get my name out there was a really really big struggle for me,” Karageorgos said.

Like Karageorgos, many high school athletes take holidays and breaks from school to push themselves to higher levels, including working on the college commitment process, especially during this year of heightened uncertainty.

“I have friends who want to play D1 as well and we just made commitments to one another to workout all summer,“ Karageorgos said.

Him and his friends are going to push each other over this spring break and summer to be the best they can be, a big trend among many other McLean student-athletes. In the future, he would love to visit Florida or North Carolina to find time to relax.

Sophomore Kate Gleason is also hopeful for a chance to take a relaxing break, but unfortunately has to stay home playing JV field hockey for the school. Still, she is excited to see her friends over this break.

“Not being able to see people has been hard, but I’m able to see some of my friends through sports and other things,” Gleason said.

Despite the age gap, many seniors are using spring break as a staycation, like Braden Barnett who is on the Varsity boys crew team. He is also very committed to his team, working out almost everyday.

“I am going to spend my spring break in McLean doing the daily or twice daily workouts for the crew team to get in some last minute training for the spring season,” Barnett said. “My favorite springtime activity is going outside and enjoying the sun and warmer weather, usually while doing exercise like rowing on the water or going for a long bike ride.”

He is staying local for his spring break mainly to continue staying active. Regardless of his busy schedule, he has experienced minimal stress.

“The most stressful thing during this time has probably been being able to gauge the competition by seeing them at practice or at winter events which we use to make our goals for the season,” Barnett said.

It’s hard for him to set goals at his practices when he can’t be face to face with other teammates.

It’s a bit easier for junior Simal Mann to set goals since she is always outside working on her skills for field hockey. She has played multiple games this year for McLean and is ready for a little break from school. She hasn’t been able to see many of her friends this year, so she has been contacting them virtually as much as possible.

“I have dealt with not seeing as many people by

,” Mann said.

She is very excited to get out of the house this spring break to go on bike rides, have some picnics with her friends, and practice her field hockey. The break also gives her much-needed time away from school and learning.

“AP testing when learning online is more difficult than I thought it would be, ” Mann said.

Marco Garcia is a Spanish teacher at McLean and has been doing the same thing as most of the students at McLean. He has been video calling his family and friends to stay in the loop of things. He recently had a baby and has been stressed trying to take care of his child and come to school everyday trying to deal with other students.

“I haven’t seen a few friends since the pandemic,” Garcia said. “Typically, I travel to either the beach or somewhere in Latin America, [but will be relaxing at home with the baby this year].”