going into my senior year during a pandemic

This article is written for yooou! 18-year-old intern, EP.

Each year of high school, my friends and I have watched the graduating seniors participate in all the exciting senior traditions. From ring day, the senior retreat, and off-campus privileges to college announcements, the senior commons, and finally graduation; it is hard to go into my senior year excited when I know that many of these exciting events and privileges will not be the same for my senior year due to COVID-19. Instead of focusing on the things many seniors will be missing out on though; I want to discuss different ways to make the most of your senior year. 

Firstly, and most importantly, it is important to remember that during times like these even though we all want to participate in a normal senior year; we most likely will not be able to. Instead of trying to dismiss the pandemic because we want life to go back to normal; we have to remember that we still have to take certain precautions. Even though the virus is most likely not going to affect people my age that severely, we could still pass the virus onto people in our lives who could potentially have more serious symptoms. That being said, there are still ways to go into our senior year with a positive mindset.

During this time, I’ve witnessed a lot of people including myself not living in the moment and instead concentrating on the future when life might be a little more normal. But I’ve found that mindset can lead to disappointment when more senior events and privileges get canceled. It is important to remember that we all only have one senior year, and just because it might not be what we expected, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to enjoy the senior year we are getting. 

My next piece of advice is instead of focusing on all the upsetting changes that are happening to our senior year, we should try to stay thankful and appreciative of the ways our schools are working to make our senior year special. Although it would be almost impossible during this pandemic to have a senior commons packed full with a ton of students, try to take a step back and notice other ways your school is trying to create safer alternatives. Even though it is very easy to feel disappointed during this pandemic, sometimes we have to remember the ways we are fortunate.

Finally, out of all the problems in the world, having an unordinary senior year is hardly the worst out there. Although it is unfortunate, especially after all the hard work we have done to get here, in the grand scheme of things, at least we can go back to school. Just taking small moments in your day to reflect on the ways we should be appreciative of our circumstances rather than disappointed will largely affect the way you look at your senior year.