Jefferson freshmen experienced their first eighth periods on the week of Sept. 30 in a virtual setting. Although the process was unfamiliar, freshmen were still able to take it as an opportunity to explore new clubs.

“I’ve gone to Quizbowl, Model UN, and bio olympiad so far. In the next week I plan on going to [public forum debate], TJ media, computer security, and freshman computer team,” freshman Grace Liu said. “I enjoyed Quizbowl the most this week because I attended their summer practices, so I was more familiar with it than the other clubs.”

Freshman Garv Jain found 8th periods as a way to relax and be away from the high-octane classroom setting.

“What I enjoyed most about 8th periods is that I realized that they provide a getaway from school and academics. During school, we get wrapped up in this academic world, and 8th periods are an escape from that,” Jain said.

Outside of finding extracurricular interests, eighth periods also served as an opportunity for freshmen to connect with new people. Especially because of the limited-interaction virtual classroom setting, this was one of the first opportunities that freshmen had to bond with friends.

“I enjoyed having a place to make or talk to friends outside of class, and I found out some people I knew did the same clubs as me which was fun.” Liu said.

Although virtual 8th periods have not allowed for any physical interaction, some freshmen have still been able to find benefits in the virtual environment.

“Since 8th periods have been virtual, a lot of clubs have been recording their meetings. It’s allowed me to explore a lot more 8th periods than normal because I can watch recordings of previous meetings as well.” Jain said.