PHOTO COURTESY/ Yang Sun
Ever thought of taking online AP tests or Zoom video calls? That was the reality of my final year of high school.
Flipping through my college applications, I remember my overpacked and stressful junior year, how I became friends with my mentees from the Peer Mentors Program and how I took hours to prepare notes for tests in AP Psychology.
The year that started with a coronavirus will for sure become part of history, with the deaths and infections of many. What COVID-19 has taught me about life cannot be erased, that life still goes on no matter how different the world has become. As I embark for my future, this pandemic gave me a few valuable lessons.
Because of the pandemic, I wake up at 10 a.m. maintaining a regular sleep pattern without a 7 a.m. alarm early in the morning.
At home, I am able to cook, watch TV shows and do indoor sports while finishing school coursework and AP tests. Not only is my life more balanced but I am also able to explore hobbies at home using extra time, with no more stressful activities and schools in the early morning.
Things that seemed ordinary are more valuable than ever. Before school closed, we could see and hug friends on the first day of school after every summer break. I got to chat with friends during breaks, meet with different people each day or drive to further away places.
No matter how unimportant our gossip and chats were, with remote learning and social distancing, we can only recreate the conversations we had in our mind or text via social media.
When the world pauses, our families press the play button. Have you ever wondered how many tricks you can teach your dogs? Or how much money can you win from a Monopoly game? Because of social distancing, my family can finally sit down and spend quality time together.
As a family, we took walks to exercise, had a barbecue dinner in our back-yard and took dogs around our neighborhood. These past three months of the Safer at Home order gave us the fun we never had time to spend on. Even with canceled senior activities, people stand in solidarity with graduating seniors in this pandemic.
While we may not have any regular graduation celebrations, seniors received recognition from the school and community. From yard signs to drive-thru diploma pickups, adults are joining with us for one of the biggest moments in our life. The year of 2020 will be embedded in history books for every senior to remember.
Prom night, renaissance assembly, senior sunset…we missed so many memories that we may never have the chance to spend time with. As a freshman, I always wonder how high school would end. I never thought a virus could take away thousands of American graduates’ fun.
As a senior, I am more frustrated than many of you, but during this time, the pandemic created an opportunity for us to do unbelievable things and taught us valuable lessons we cannot overlook.