The transformation from the dulling silence and blank screens of virtual learning to the

 chaotic, early mornings of in person school has not been easy for most. After not being at school for at least a year and a half, we finally returned! Then we were directly hit in the face with the state’s mask mandate. Although we are required to wear masks for our own safety, sometimes it can be difficult…

This year’s Sophomore class walked into the doors of UACHS their first day of school and were greeted with familiar names and voices, yet unfamiliar faces. Could they even consider them, “faces?” Or were they just sets of eyes wearing masks? Maria Soto, a sophomore at UACHS, explains that sometimes it is hard to identify her peers.

“It takes a lot to get used to seeing people without their masks on,” Soto said. “During lunch, when people have their masks off, it’s kind of hard to recognize them from a distance.” 

Admit it, we have all seen at least one person around school walking around with their mask on, go home that day, stumble across them on one of the many social media platforms, only to find out they look nothing like what they do with their masks on. In other words, mask fishing, today’s modern day form of cat-fishing, is when they look more attractive with their mask on than they do with it off. The trend originally started on TikTok, when teens across the world had posted videos of themselves asking others, “Am I mask fishing?”

Mask fishing others is not something anyone can really help, it just happens. People cannot control what they look like with their mask on or off. After all, we are all bound to see what each other’s faces look like at some point during the school year.  However, when someone manages to bring themselves to pull down their mask to reveal the rest of their face, how are we supposed to react? Sophomore, Kelis Jones, says that sometimes she doesn’t know what to do or say when she sees someone’s face for the first time.

“When people take down their masks for the first time I honestly do not know how to react,” Jones said.  “It’s either ‘oh you’re cute,’ or ‘oh, well..you look decent, I guess.’”

With the new year around the corner, we still have a long way to go until the end of the school year. There is still so much to learn, in school and about each other, and so many more friends and faces to see. Sadly, with COVID-19 and the new strain of Omicron, we are most likely not going to see the end of the state’s mask mandate for a while. So until then.. Beware of the mask fishers, maybe you might even be one yourself.