When it comes to learning at Xavier, students all have a preference. This year especially, with the introduction of remote learning, the opinions of the student body are exceedingly strong. It’s time to find the answer this question: What does the student body at Xavier prefer, in-person or online learning?

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“Personally I think that online school makes it a lot easier,” said freshman Kevin Kasperowski. “However, it’s harder to focus and it’s harder to get that full learning experience. When we’re in school, we can really connect, interact with each other, ask questions, and just have a better learning experience.”

Sophomore Kyle Quartuccio stated his thoughts, “Personally, I prefer online, but I’m not mad about being in-person. I think I feel that way because I never really felt negatively affected by being online. Staring at my computer the whole day? I found things to do outside, decided to spend my time at home playing with my dog. Couldn’t hang out with friends? That’s what the weekends were for anyway.” Kyle continued his statement, “I think being at home was bad for two groups of people: the kind that were doing many things and got opportunity taken from them, and the kind of people that didn’t do many things from the start and now felt they had a smaller number of things to do while stuck at home.” Kyle concluded saying, “I think it’s all about how you stepped up and made up for being at home. While I wouldn’t mind being at home again, I’m not going to fight for it. I feel I can make the best of both scenarios.”

Sophomore Tristan Shemmerling stated, “I think that both versions of learning have their own benefits and downsides. I like having a five period day in-person so I don’t have to worry about those classes that I do not have that day. However the long third period can sometimes be a hard period to sit through.” Tristan continued saying, “On the other hand, online learning is nice because you don’t need to wake up at 6:00 in the morning to catch the bus and the shorter days online can be nice. However, the social aspect was missing and not being able to talk to friends face to face was definitely challenging.” Tristan finished by saying, “In conclusion, our school has done really well with protecting its students from Covid-19 and each school schedule has worked out really well in my opinion. ”

“It depends on the situation, but in-person is definitely better for learning material because you are involved,” said sophomore Aidan Driscoll. “I did enjoy online because of the 12:40 dismissal. I liked the break between school and homework because I was able to relax for a couple hours.” Aidan concluded saying, “They both have their differences but I think overall I like in-person better.”

Freshman Hunter Feitel said, “In-person allows you to develop more socially, and you can get more of the high school experience that way.”

Sophomore Dominic Cusano said, “I prefer in-person learning for many reasons.  It is the natural way to learn, there are no distractions, there are person-to-person interactions, and retaining information is much easier.  Although staying home is convenient and easy, it is not the correct way to approach the education of our country.”

“I feel like I learn better in-person, but I could get burnt out easier,” said junior Joe Lallier. “Online is a good balance. Online we have the shorter classes and end on a half day, so it’s not so much.”

Sophomore PJ Mackey answered the question saying, “I prefer in-person. The reason for this is because it is much more complicated to try and stay on top of my work at home and there are much more distractions from class that I don’t have to deal with while in-person.” PJ finished by saying, “While in-person I am also given the chance to spend more time with my friends before, during, and after school that I couldn’t do while being at home.”

Freshman Cormac Burke said, “Personally, I’m not a big fan of hybrid because of the full online days. It’s just excessive when you’re staring at your computer for six hours.” Cormac continued saying, “I’m a fan of in-person because I just feel my attention span is much better, especially taking tests and quizzes and the social aspect.”

“I think it’s nice to alternate,” said sophomore Dominic Liquori. “Some days you kind of need a day off from going to the actual school, and some days, going is honestly refreshing. So it’s a nice healthy balance, but it is obviously weirder for the teachers.” Dominic finished by saying, “Honestly, hybrid is alright, because it’s a healthy balance of both sheltered and social.”

“In my opinion in-person learning is better,” said freshman Daniel Delgado. “I would prefer it because you get to interact with your friends and teachers in-person and not through a computer.” Daniel brought up the situation with the virus, saying, “Even though there are rules and restrictions that we all have to follow due to Covid-19 we still can interact with one another. It is also better because we can still have sports and club events that we can attend after school and build bonds with our friends.”

“I say a mixture of both. In-person gives you time to catch up and be held accountable. With online you also get a bit of a break,” said freshman Connor Brigham.

Sophomore Zach Bulkovitch said, “With online you can wake up later, you also get out earlier. In-person, you get more done, and it’s more cohesive.” To conclude his response, Zach said, “Probably in-person.”

Freshman Grady Vogt said, “I prefer a mix because it’s good to have human interaction. Sometimes you just like to sleep in longer and wake up later.”

Junior Jacob Kirejczyk said, “I would prefer in-person, because the interaction between teacher and student is much better than online; I get distracted a lot. So I would prefer in-person”

Freshman Colby Ciampi said, “When the whole school is online it’s better to be online, but in-person is definitely easier to soak up the information.”

Sophomore Robert Quan, in response to the question said, “In-person. I just learn better that way and I think I stay more focused during class.”

Contrasting Robert Quan, sophomore Andre Montoya said, “I think online is better. We have our own space to do what we want and we focus better.”

Freshman Nikhil Tailor had a different opinion on a student’s focus, “I focus more in-person, but I prefer online.”

“I would much rather prefer in-person,” said freshman Jacob Fagan. “Sometimes during online, you feel like you’re learning nothing, which is a problem. While when we are in school, it is much more interactive which forces you to learn more in a shorter amount of time, plus the benefit of hanging out with friends, participating in clubs and sports etc.”

It has become clear that the student body is very split on the matter. The students that prefer in-person learning like the fact that they interact better, form better friendships, and get the most out of the high school experience. The students who prefer online appreciate the extra sleep, the shorter days, and the break between school and homework. The answer to this question will vary depending on who you ask, but what about you? What do you think?