The last anything is always hard – the last test, the last class, and even the last article. 

And let me just say, this was nothing like High School Musical. Cliche, I know.

I think I’m in the same boat as most people when describing their school year during COVID-19. Like, what are we supposed to say? “I survived a pandemic while still surviving high school?” 

There were no shows ten years ago about how high school is like during a pandemic. We had iCarly, cartoons like Fish Hooks, or whatever kids watch these days. Geez, I really am old. 

Nothing could have really prepared us for all of this, maybe a couple of TED Talks. But other than that, how could anyone prepare for an entire year of online learning?

Despite this, students were still able to get through the year. Some with better grades than they had before. We had more time to ourselves instead of being stuck in classrooms all day so that’s a plus. 

So, surviving a school year during a pandemic? I guess that sounds pretty cool to your future kids or grandkids. Maybe add some more spice to it, so you sound cooler like: “I survived a zombie apocalypse, in a prestigious high school where everyone was ferocious and had the IQ of Albert Einstein, and I, me, I beat them all.” I’m telling my future kids that.

Jokes aside, I think I learned a lot in my high school years, I learned y=mx+b, how to draw a graph, some more math stuff, a couple of amendments, and the rest will come back to me in a couple of years. Hopefully.

And as for the COVID-19 part, that was rough. I never would have thought my senior year would be at home all day. But despite that, it was actually a good year. 

I don’t think high school should be a big part of our lives. We hear it all the time, “High school will be the best time of your life.” But that just seems sad to me. We have about 85 years of life and the first 18 years are the best parts? I mean the school dances were pretty fun, for extroverts. I was more of a slow dancer. 

Nevertheless, I still had a great time. I got to experience new things and make new friends. I survived AP classes and years of running for Cross Country, I wouldn’t take any of it back. There was still a lot of stress and all-nighters but I made friends, which is all I could ask for.

At this point in writing, it’s gotten harder to come up with a clever joke or line to make you laugh while reading this, but maybe a knock-knock joke would do. You have to start it though. 

Did you fall for it? I did…

I may not have been able to do all the things I wanted to do in high school like talk to that girl, or try this, or try that, but it doesn’t affect me too much. For instance, I got to do things I didn’t think I would do like being in theatre or being in journalism. In the end, I’m glad I went through everything I’ve been through. It may not have all been good but it was the best it could be.

Although the last of anything is always hard, there’s always something after to look forward to. After high school is college, and after college, is… well I guess after college is whatever we make of it. 

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