In 2001, the nation suffered a heartbreaking attack on the World Trade Center. A year after, I was just beginning my twelve years of schooling. And now, 19 years later, the world is enveloped in a fatal pandemic, one that has me finishing out my senior year with online classes, missing out on many traditions.

This senior column is the official unofficial end of my high school career.

Nothing about my education or childhood can be completely compared with someone else’s. As a kid, I learned to love school because I attended the same school that my mom worked at. Her friends were my teachers and they all felt like family.

When I started high school, it was the first time I had learned to truly be independent. All my childhood friends had gone to another school and I no longer knew anything about my teachers or classes. I didn’t know where I belonged until I found my way to E213.

The Judson Journalism program gave me a home. No matter what else was going on in my personal life, everything I learned stayed the same – the way the news was presented stayed the same. And at the same time, I found a family.

My adviser, Mr. Pedro Cabrera, made sure to create a place where his students could be comfortable no matter their differences. It was the best place to be while still discovering who you are. From sophomore year to now, I can never say I didn’t have a place where I couldn’t speak out.

I learned a lot from him and from many of my teachers. I have changed immensely over the past few years due to growing up and the obstacles that presented themselves.

I didn’t make the best choices. And when my parents got divorced at the beginning of my junior year, I had to find a new normal.

It’s these challenges that show you who you are, whether they are your own mistakes or ones you couldn’t see coming. And no matter how big or small they are, you have to learn from them. I had my fair share, even now, and I’m still learning.

No one ever would have predicted that the class of 2020 would be spending our final weeks at home. I’m honestly terrified about college and whatever may come after because the environment we currently have is one with uncertainty. However, that doesn’t mean I will stop trying.

The seniors before us shared advice that was almost always along the lines of senior year “flying by.” Only now do I know what they meant. I will not get the true senior experience now, and because of that, I will treasure all the memories I have of this year even more.

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