Each St. Andrew’s student has their own story to tell about their life during the COVID-19 pandemic. Through it all, our students have demonstrated remarkable resilience, creating their own solutions to the questions that many adults still wrestle with: How will I get through this? What will I learn from this time apart? What will the world be like when this has passed?

Zoie Walden ’23 has volleyball on the brain. During a typical fall, she would have just wrapped up a season of serving and spiking for the Lions in her second year on the varsity team. For now, she’ll be waiting until February at the earliest to get back on Lions Court. 

Tryouts for her club volleyball team took place in November, but it wasn’t clear if she would make the cut. Limited capacity in gymnasiums means that fewer players can take the court, so even though she played last year, older players may have been first in line for those spots. 

A postponed sports season and an uncertain club season, however, didn’t stop her from making volleyball central to her distance learning success strategy this year. 

Attending school from home means sitting in front of a laptop screen for hours. Taking deliberate brain breaks and playing volleyball with her dad made a difference. 

“Going outside was just a mental reset and refresher as I was getting used to virtual learning,” she said. “After going outside and having that break, it helped me focus much more during class.” 

Her family is cautious and limits their outings. She’s seen friends while wearing face coverings and social distancing, but misses going to the movies and walking around the mall. 

Until she’s back on the court, her focus will be tackling a more challenging course load, which includes AP European History, Honors English, and Algebra 2. 

“It’s a change in the workload, so it’s challenging, managing all of that work with also staying sane and doing normal things,” Zoie said.

Click here to read our 2020 Fall Magazine and Annual Report in its entirety.