I would say the thing I miss the most is having the opportunity to see my friends each day. As a high school student, your life tends to revolve around school; you spend most of the week in class, you have to keep up with assignments and study for exams, and many people are heavily involved in activities that are extensions of school (sports, music, clubs, etc). The absence of school and these activities has made it painfully clear how much students depend on school to be involved.

Additionally, it's where I can see most of my friends on a regular basis. We share classes and off periods, and it can be difficult to make plans together outside of school. After a month spent almost entirely at home, I've come to realize that it's the smallest things that I miss the most. I miss being able to see my friends across the hallway and wave to them, and I miss laughing with them in class. I miss talking to my section in the band before we have to play, and my required early-morning NHS and Tri-M meetings. I miss running with my team in track, and our workouts after school. I miss being nervous with my teammates before a race and celebrating when we finished. I miss getting lunch with friends, talking about anything that comes to mind, complaining about tests and homework and still knowing it would all work out.

 

It's the small things that you don't realize have the biggest impact; our high school experience isn't just made up of the biggest events in the year, but of every day and moment. That's what I miss the most, the little moments with my friends. Being a senior makes this time even more difficult; the end of high school means that some of us won't see each other again. This is always bittersweet, but you usually know when it's coming. With the abrupt end to this year, it's hard to accept that you've already had your last memories with your friends. We can still hang out this summer, but never again in a school setting, and not with the rest of our classmates. We don't have the chance to see all of our classmates and teachers again, or go to one last practice or competition, and I'll miss that the most.

 

 

The hardest part is the change. In the past few weeks, the world itself has had to adjust to everything that's happened. With the government imposing restrictions on businesses and social gatherings, I think most people are experiencing some shock from this situation. For me, I've struggled the most with routine, as I'm used to going to school every day, and online classes are an entirely different style of learning. The loss of extracurriculars is also hard to adjust to, as most of the activities I'm involved in had already made plans or goals for the spring. In track, our team was already running workouts and putting in mileage to prepare for the season, and our 4-by-800-meter team wanted to see if we could compete at the state meet.

 

Additionally, our school's wind ensemble group had qualified for the CBA State Concert Band Festival for the first time, and we planned to travel to CSU to perform in April. I was looking forward to both of these events, and it's difficult to come to terms with the fact that they won't happen.

 

Furthermore, everyone places an emphasis on senior year, and there's a lot of excitement surrounding second semester. It's the last part of high school, where everyone finishes up their classes, goes to senior prom, says goodbye to teachers and the school, and graduates. Many students have been preparing for this since freshman year and see the graduation ceremony as their final step in high school, and what they've worked hard for. All of this is now canceled or tentatively moved, and it's hard to cope with that change — the shift from certainty to unpredictability has been a struggle. I think the hardest part is not being able to do anything to change this; everyone in the world has been affected, and the problem isn't going to disappear overnight. It's difficult to accept the fact that everything has suddenly changed, and we won't have the opportunity to have the experiences we've missed out on.

 

 

I've learned how important it is to appreciate what you have. At the beginning of this year, I couldn't even imagine this happening; I was thinking I would start and finish my last year as planned, and there wouldn't be any big life-changing events. As the world changed, I learned how important the smaller parts of life can be. I mentioned this earlier too, but I think it's the day-to-day experiences you have that define your life. We tend to look forward to the `big' events, like a vacation or a special day, and tend to overlook the meaning that everyday life has. For example, at the beginning of the year, I disliked having to go shopping or run chores. They were just another thing on my to-do list. Now, with stores being closed or working at limited capacity, I realize how lucky I was. Being able to meet up with friends, eat at a restaurant, go to school and shops — I took all of that for granted. I also never would have expected school to be closed; in the last 12 years in my life, school has been a constant presence. It could get monotonous, and some classes were difficult, but I largely depended on it to see friends each day and participate in other activities, like sports and music. With the abrupt shift to online classes, and cancellations or postponements of activities and large events, I realize how much everything has changed, and how lucky