Thoughts of a Graduating MCHS Quaranteen

While I have worked a lot throughout the past four years and had one-too-many breakdowns, I was still able to make memories that I’ll cherish forever.

Last semester, I was like the Energizer bunny: working nonstop. Like most other seniors in America, I was busy applying to colleges—eleven, to be exact—and applying for FAFSA in hopes that I get some of that sweet, government money. I was also heavily involved in Key Club and Deadline as their respective leaders, and the Yesterday Again Film Festival as their webmaster. Not to mention, I had to keep up with my high school and college classes to make sure my GPA wouldn’t drop dramatically and that I wouldn’t be automatically rescinded from colleges. Free time was never in my agenda, and if it was, I was probably feeling guilty for every second doing nothing.

I was probably doing too much, but I loved being active in the school culture and giving back to it. Regardless, I was stressed out really often. My friends can vouch for that. When things would get too overwhelming, I would always power through it by telling myself that I’ll be able to relax in March, the month that college decisions come out. For weeks, the only thing keeping me sane would be March 2020. Once March comes, I’ll get to have fun, stop worrying about college for a bit, and live the best part of senior year. I’m sure many of my classmates had similar hopes for the second semester of senior year.

It’s May now, and my dream of March has been crushed, bulldozed, and thrown in the trash. The last day of school was on March 13th, and I never got to say goodbye to anyone that day except a handful of seniors and juniors in the Budd parking lot after school. At that point, we knew that prom was postponed, but we didn’t know that it would eventually be cancelled, along with the remaining months of school and commencement.

These past two months, I’ve heard many versions of, “This will be a story that you can tell your kids someday!” and "You are part of a historical senior class!" To channel my selfish side, I never asked to be “historical” or to “have a story.” I wanted a normal senior year like every other senior class has had. I wanted to walk across the Atherton stage while my friends and family cheer me on. Of course, even my selfish side realizes that this is now impossible. The Class of 2020’s senior year will never be more important than the fact that hundreds of thousands of people are sick, dying, and dead from COVID-19. In perspective, many of us are doing far better than many other individuals and families during this pandemic.

The end is always sad, but the new beginning is brighter than ever.

With so much time to self-reflect during quarantine, I had an epiphany. While I have worked a lot throughout the past four years and had one-too-many breakdowns, I was still able to make memories that I’ll cherish forever. I’ll fondly remember the T4 and Quickly’s trips after school with my friends, where we’d attempt to hold a conversation while K-pop was blaring from their speakers. I’ll remember going to club meetings and making most of my friends in them. I’ll remember getting to know the office ladies and Ms. Campos as an office TA, and me taking the candy from Ms. Campos’s office whenever I could. I’ll remember the midnight conversations that I’ve had with my friends, where we’ve shared our highs, lows, and everything in between. I even have a scar on my right knee to remember how Chandler and I fell, after he decided to run while giving me a piggyback ride.

While my plans to end senior year did not include graduating from my living room, I still have a lot to be grateful for (including a dozen free donuts). Middle College, I’m grateful for you all helping me break out of my shell and realize my true potential. Teachers and staff, thank you for being my mentors and some of my biggest supporters. Class of 2020, we may have had rocky moments, but I’m glad that I was able to grow up with you guys together. Deadline, thanks for letting me be your editor for the last two years. I know the obstacles these past two years have been difficult to beat, but I have faith that the 2020-21 Deadline team will build on our progress and make awesome papers for our student body.

The end is always sad, but the new beginning is brighter than ever.