Almost five years ago, the COVID-19 pandemic shut the world down and put a pause on education. Students nationwide are still trying to recover.

Washington and Lee students are the exception, professors said.

“It’s like a seed that, even in infertile soil, will still grow,” said Wythe Whiting, a professor of cognitive and behavioral science.

In almost every state, there is a slow recovery from Covid learning loss, according to the New York Times. Students are specifically behind in reading. Some states are behind pre-Covid reading levels by six months to a year.

“There were a lot of students that were affected by Covid,” Whiting said. “But I think the people that were applying here … they were the kind of students that were going to thrive no matter what.”

Professors said that the campus culture, between professor engagement and student motivation, keeps W&L students on track, regardless of how the pandemic affected their secondary education. For current W&L seniors, the pandemic hit at the end of their junior year of high school. But first-years lost the end of their 8th grade year and the beginning of high school.

W&L professors enjoy teaching and really care about student learning, Whiting said. Professors interested solely in research typically work for large universities, but professors at W&L are particularly passionate about teaching.

“It’s not the case that we’re just going to go spit out a bunch of content and you’re on your own so figure it out,” Whiting said. “If that were the case, we might see a difference.”

Student drive is central to the W&L culture, professors said. Mark Coddington, a professor of journalism and mass communications, said he thinks the culture is self-perpetuating.

“Students who are looking at college see a school like W&L and see how driven it is,” Coddington said. “You pick it up from visiting campus… and you know what type of school it is. And you decide, yes, I would be at home someplace like that.”

Professors agree that student drive, as well as educational background, helped protect students from learning loss during the pandemic.

“W&L has the luxury of being able to take…the really top tier of students coming out of high school,” Coddington said. “I think that top tier has not really changed that much since before pandemic.”

Out of the class of 2028, 45% of first-years attended an independent or parochial school, according to the 2028 class profile.

Many private schools were able to hold live, interactive lessons during remote learning, according to U.S. News and World Report. Private school teachers also felt more supported during the pandemic, in comparison to public school teachers.

Even still, Coddington said W&L students’ rebound from Covid was surprising.

“I would expect… a much greater effect a few years on, and I just haven’t really seen it,” Coddington said.

Professors say students’ grades, learning and social skills have remained consistent. But, they have seen changes in student attitudes.

Kyle Friend, an associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry, said the pandemic created an increased value in education.

“[Students] really were willing to challenge themselves and I think part of that was a legacy of not being pushed at all during Covid,” Friend said. “There were people who were more willing to take personal risks, take harder classes and push themselves a little bit.”

Whiting and Coddington said they’ve seen a change in self-care and the way students address mental health, too. Coddington said students are much more open and honest about their mental health post-pandemic.

“It may have been a little bit of a norm to just put on a happy face,” Coddington said. “You know, like the swan, looking so smooth on top and paddling like crazy below the surface.”

The pandemic delayed the development of social skills for many children and teenagers, according to the National Institutes of Health. But professors say W&L students are an outlier for that, too.

W&L students have always been extremely social, Coddington said.

But, during the pandemic, “it was really sad to see them,” Coddington said. “They struggled when they were deprived of it. They got really sad and really angry.”

Whiting said students seem to have bounced back to pre-pandemic social skills and interactions.

Although college students were more equipped to manage the pandemic, professors reported higher rates of missing assignments, hesitancy in classroom discussions and increased phone usage, according to The Annie E. Casey Foundation. However, W&L professors say they didn’t notice those changes here.

“Students are pretty on the ball,” Whiting said. “They want to do well, and they put in the work to do well. If you set the bar here, they’re going to try to meet it.”