When the first semester was approaching its end on Friday, January 13th, a rare event occurred at the Webb school’s campus: not all students had returned from winter break. While the official back-to-school day was January 3rd, this date was extended to January 6th and 7th for students traveling to China over the winter break due to COVID-19 restrictions and jet lags. 

There’s no doubt the delay affected the academics of the students, however, there were also benefits to this decision. Due to COVID-19, many international students have not been united with their families for a long time, and this prolonged winter break served as a great chance to catch up with friends and family members. 

The late start changed the experiences of the students, both academically and socially. Each student had their own individual experience attached to their decision to return late.  Compared to their peers, who attended class and came back on time, the late-returning students carried more weight on their shoulders. However, these students also enjoyed an extra one or two weeks off from school.  

A senior who has already been accepted to college might have a more relaxed break and a lighter attitude toward the end of the semester. In comparison, a student who is about to apply for college might experience greater stress from a late return. Since semester grades are reflected on the official transcripts, this event can cause further stress for those who have not started their college application process. Nevertheless, this extension gave the students more chances to enjoy their prolonged winter break and the chance to make up for their quarantine time.  

Season Li (‘23) went back to China to reunite with her family after being apart for nearly two years.  

“I spent a lot of time with family for Christmas, for the new year, and just being at home was really useful for me and mentally healed me,” Season said.  

Season was already accepted into New York University before going on to winter break. She expressed that “knowing that I have been accepted to college does somehow make me feel more relaxed during break.” She also described how she even “did a double eyelid surgery, danced in a studio in Beijing, and also went snowboarding.”   

Even though she was stressed from the amount of work, it did not stop her from “feeling really glad and excited for being ready for the second semester.” 

The late return gave Joy Li (‘24) the chance to compensate for the days she spent in the quarantine hotel, so she could spend time with her family for a longer period of time. However, there are also drawbacks to the late return. “My break was pretty restful; I got to spend time with my family and saw the people I wanted to see, which is very nice,” said Joy. “But I did not have the time to adjust from vacation to school, seven and out of ten, I would say my stress level, the next day I came back was immediately a school day, and I needed to keep up, but I did not have the time for what was going to happen.”  

On the other hand, she expressed that if she was already in her senior year and received her college acceptance, she would not be stressed at all in this situation. The pressure of the ending semester seems to especially affect the junior class. 

A junior, Rita Wang (‘24), had not been reunited with her family for almost two years and decided to use the extended break to catch up with relatives and friends. “I visited my middle school friends and a lot of relatives, and also spent the rest of the time with my family,” Rita said.  

Rita recounted her travels back to Tian Jin and Sheng Zhen and the fun she had reuniting with her family. However, similar to Joy, Rita had a hard time adjusting to Webb’s schedule after her delayed return. Due to the overload of work from essays, projects, and her robotics competition, she expressed having a stress level of eight.  

Compared to the seniors and juniors, Chelsea Wei (‘25), a sophomore, has a rather low-stress level. “I think I am done with all my summatives, so I’m just looking forward to the semester ending and starting all over again,” Chelsea said. “For school, my stress level is a four out of ten.”  

Her break, on the other hand, was spent mostly in her home in Shanghai. “Because 70 percent of Shanghai got covid, we were scared to go out,” Chelsea said. “And finally, my whole family got covid, so we were not able to leave the house for two weeks.” However, she was able to travel throughout China for the last week of her stay.  

Now that the COVID-19 restrictions have been lifted, there might not be a need to extend the breaks anymore. However, this step that Webb took proved to be precious gift for many students.