Looking back at the first day of senior year, sitting in my classes thinking this would be my last first day of high school was very surreal. Thinking back on all of my memories and life lessons and friends and everything I’ve been through in high school, it has honestly helped shape who I am. I used to be a timid, shy, very quiet person. Then I met my people, some of my best friends. I joined the dance team, I got involved in many things, and by the time it was senior year, I realized I’m not the same shy and quiet girl I was walking into my first day of freshman year. I learned to speak up, and found my sense of humor, became independent and mature, and finally became the social butterfly I always hoped to be.

      I have had lots of experiences, good, bad, happy, sad, honestly anything you could imagine. But I would’ve never expected that my senior year would be cut short, that I would be sitting at home wondering when I could see my friends again, if I will ever see my teachers again, wondering if I will get a graduation, senior skip day, prom, so much more. The wondering and sadness still hasn’t stopped. But I wouldn’t change anything about my senior year before all of this happened. It’s something new for everyone to adjust to. Can’t say online school has made me any more motivated, or made me any more productive. It’s been an adjustment, like for everyone else. It is something nobody will forget and will just have to learn from.

      If I were to tell my freshman self something, it would be to not worry about what people think, that life is short and to do what makes you happy. To stop worrying about the future and that everything will work out how it’s supposed to be. To enjoy the little things because you don’t realize how fast it goes. High school may be four years of your life, but it isn’t everything. It goes by faster than I would’ve ever imagined. I am thankful for everything I’ve done and been a part of these past four years.