The 8th grade year started in a weird way. We started off virtual, with the school being closed down due to the still-existent COVID-19. I knew this year would be weird, with the school being closed and everyone being at home. Our first 2 virtual school weeks were a mess. Everyone was all over the place, and things were very confusing. We were somewhat used to virtual because that was how we ended the 7th grade year, but I knew this year would go very differently. We only knew what classes we had because the school had sent out our schedules. I saw that I still had Encounters, and wondered how we would do projects and the things we had done last year. As I logged into my classes, I saw there were people there I knew in some of my virtual classes. Around mid-October, the school opened back up and kids were given the option to come back face-to-face to school. I knew I wouldn’t go back yet, but some kids went back. The first group of face-to-face kids was what I believed experimental, since COVID was most likely still strong back then. For our first few Encounters weeks, we did ThinkCERCA essays and questions. ThinkCERCA is a program the school uses to help students with writing. Each CERCA (a CERCA is a story, questions, and an essay) was due at the end of the week. Eventually more and more kids returned face-to-face. The school slowly re-opened, with sports becoming available. I wanted to play sports but my parents prohibited it because they thought I would get sick. Come early March, the real Encounters work started. The Challenge Of The Mind projects had begun. We began with deciding our topics for this year’s research. Things just easily advanced from that point forward. Around March, mostly everyone was back in-person. By then, the virus had calmed down. This year was surely confusing for everyone, and we missed out on a lot. One of my favorite things from this year was when virtual people wouldn’t realize that they were not muted and just say stuff with everyone hearing it.