In what should have been a routine activity, the process of getting class schedules the week before the start of school had a foreign twist. The coordination with friends about which classes we shared included looking up which lunch blocks we had together due to the incorporation of a Learn block separate from Lunch.

Naturally, the new system was met with animosity by returning students from all grades that had grown so used to Lunch and Learn, the glorious hour-long block during which students could eat, do homework, get help from teachers or mess around. Seniors, in particular, felt that too much about the school was already changing because of construction and the switch to a separate Learn block was just another plot by administration to ruin our senior year.

I had my doubts; I had grown to love Lunch and Learn. It allowed me to never do homework at home. It seemed that the separation of the two would make it difficult for me to spend the entire year on cruise control. However, along with the rest of the returning students, I adapted quickly and found that I could still manage to do minimal work at home. With a chunk of time that actually amounts to more time than Lunch and Learn, the separation of the two makes it easier to be efficient. Working for 45 minutes and then having another 30 minutes if needed ended up being easier and more manageable than working for an hour straight. Also, it is nice having two breaks between classes instead of just one.

It is a separation between periods that seems more natural than the separation created by Lunch and Learn. Though I still find myself wandering the halls during Learn and Lunch, something that I often did during Lunch and Learn, on the whole, I get more work done during the day.

After several months of the new Learn block, my worries were erased. A few weeks ago, I found myself telling a story about last school year and saying Lunch and Learn felt awkward. I guess that means I am officially over it.