Issue link: http://www.wacmagazine.com/i/1356079
30 WAC Magazine | wac.net MIKE SHEPHERD Member of the Sea le Seawolves e domino effect of the COVID-19 pandemic spared no one, including your Seattle Seawolves and Major League Rugby (MLR). e pandemic forced the league to shut down its third season in mid-March 2020 aer only five weeks of competition. is eliminated the chance for our two-time MLR championship franchise to defend the title in year three. It was a tough blow. Although we can all agree it was necessary, it wasn't easy to accept. Shutting down meant putting a stop, albeit temporary, to some- thing that we players worked and sacrificed a long time to achieve. For a young league, it was also an unfortunate hurdle aer what had been substantial growth up to that point. I recall feeling dissatisfied from an athletic perspective. On top of the team's goal of winning the league again, I had my own goals that went unfulfilled. Leading up to the shutdown I had built up several great statistics on the field, including games started, tackle counts, and scores. I had also made progress in related areas off the field, including body composition and work-life balance. It was difficult not to introduce the results of that hard work with a chance to perform. Not only that, but a new challenge arose—how to keep the improvements going in an extended off-season! It was a tall order without a season, team, or traditional facilities or staff to work with. NICOLE WINTERS Teacher What in the world is Zoom? at was my initial thought when I first heard that school was going to be online. It was my first year of teaching—which they say is the hardest year of your career—and we were being asked to do something that no one had ever prepared for. At first, we expected that we'd be closed for two weeks and back to our classrooms in no time. But then came Zoom. In a time filled with mental, emotion- al, financial, and physical uncertainty, teachers were suddenly expected to reinvent the wheel of how they teach. We were stressed, scared, worried, and exhausted, but we kept going for the children. We do what we do for the children, and a global pandemic wasn't going to get in our way! Luckily, summer finally arrived and we could take a break—although anyone who knows a teacher knows that our summers are filled with getting ready for the new school year. What would that school year look like? Would we all still have a job? We just didn't know. en came the news—virtual school for the fall! I was teaching 16 first-graders, all remote, through a computer screen, trying to plan fun, engaging, and intellectually stimu- lating lessons. ere were days when I was at my computer 7 am–8 pm, turning everything we would normal- ly do in-person into an electronic format. It was the most stressful time of my life, but my students quickly became my favorite people and made all the Zoom headaches worth it. I'm also incredibly grateful for the families who have been so supportive of me in this insane year. Aer pushing our in-person return- to-school date back for months, we finally got word that it was happening. I was flooded with emotions. I was scared because I wasn't in line for a vaccina- tion anytime soon and our region's rate of infection wasn't going down. I was nervous about being in the building with students aer almost a year away. And I was stressed because I really had no idea how I would teach 16 students in a classroom during a global pandemic. We had the trainings, we made the preparations, and the day finally came. I didn't sleep the night before. At 9:15 am on the day we reopened, I went outside to get my class. e cheering that came from those first-graders made every bad feeling go away. As of this writing, we've been back for a few weeks and it's honestly gone so much better than I ever expected. We wear masks the whole time; we sanitize and wash our hands quite oen; we maintain six feet as much as possible; we don't share any supplies; and we spend a lot of time in our seats. My students are doing their very best to stay safe at school, and being around them makes me happier more than anything. Is it still a scary thing? Absolutely. Do I still worry about my health? Every day. But we are doing what we can and, at the end of the day, I'm here for the students. E M I L I O H U E R T A S Q U I N N W I D T H ( S E A T T L E S E A W O L V E S )