I walked through the courtyard on the first day of senior year and immediately had an odd, sinking feeling in my stomach. Everyone was socializing like normal. The freshmen were scrambling around trying to find their first classes, the sophomores and juniors were hanging out in their friend groups, and the seniors were strolling along, taking in the moments of their last first day of high school. Although nothing was wrong, it felt like we were in a dystopian novel. Masks covered the faces of everyone, hand sanitizer was being copiously shared, and disinfectant wipes lined up on the counter of each teacher’s room. It was like we were in some movie where a deadly virus plagued the world, leading to a sort of apocalypse, only it wasn’t an apocalypse, and the virus was real. 

Being a senior during the time of Covid is rough. Being a senior who had two months cut off of her junior year and started her senior year with all the ‘rona regulations in place is frustrating, disappointing, and over all depressing. I am pro-mask-whatever helps us stay in school longer is fine by me. But seeing everyone in masks at school is such an odd experience that I don’t think I will ever get used to. 

The possibility that we might have to go back to online school is also disheartening. The uncertainty of staying in school physically is always on everyone’s minds and makes the teaching styles of each class muddled and confusing.The teachers are trying their best to keep up with both their in-person and remote students, but it must be difficult to be at school every day teaching while still making sure the remote learners have assignments. There have also been many students who have struggled to log into Google Classroom, or who have had other problems with technology. It’s hard to have some classes where we do everything on our computers, some classes where we have physical copies of assignments, and some classes where our work is a mix of both. I am hopeful that we will get everything figured out, but for now it’s still a trial and error process. 

I’m also disappointed to be missing out on some of the typical high school activities. I’m not the biggest fan of dances or other school functions like that, but I was really looking forward to senior prom. Getting to go to prom at least once would be nice, but since it’s even uncertain that we’ll be in school during the second semester, it’s therefore uncertain that we’ll have a prom. It is promising that we are planning on having a homecoming dance though. Since the past five months have been a whirlwind of change, new rules, and frustration, a little bit of normalcy would be enjoyable. 

I always imagined my senior year as, well, normal. I would have never in a million years imagined that we would have to wear masks, social distance, and disinfect our desks every class period. I am very thankful our school is taking the necessary precautions needed to keep its students safe, but if I had magical powers, I’d poof everything back to normal and allow all the kids to have a virus-free year. Let’s hope that we get to stay in school and make senior year as normal, exciting, and safe as we can while still in the season of Corona.