To put it lightly, this year has been one of the worst years of my life.

 I remember entering into the school and not believing the stigma around junior year. I hate to break it to you, but it’s all true. Every bit of it: the classes are hard, the SAT prep is horrible, and the stress around college builds up.

COVID-19 did not help me through any of this. In fact when school was fully online, I lost important friendships and I lost myself. When we returned in person, I was apprehensive. 

In my first period chemistry class, I sat next to a blonde girl who I had never talked to before. Twenty minutes later I was laughing at a stupid joke she made; it felt as if we had been friends forever. When I returned home from school that day, I cried. 

Of course some of the crying was for the newfound school work, but for the most part, I didn’t feel alone anymore. 

I cried because it felt like I mattered again, while in quarantine everyone was isolated and it felt like I didn’t. I was holed up in my room for days on end, only having contact with my immediate family. Obviously it was nice to have all of that free time to do as I pleased, but I was alone.

My parents like to reminisce about their high school days, the parties they went to, their prom, and their graduation. The world will still go round if I don’t have a prom or a graduation, but it feels like I might miss an important step. My whole childhood has been leading up to the point, so now what?

According to Our World Data, 2.23 million people have been fully vaccinated in Colorado as of May 10, 2021. I am one of those people and would like to believe that this vaccine will work so we can all skip into the sunset holding hands. 

Herd immunity is when 95% of the population is fully vaccinated, according to the World Health Organization. If enough people were vaccinated we could all go back and I would lov that more than anything.

It’s weird though, high school has never been my favorite place to be, but after being quarantined for months on end, I have developed a new appreciation for it. Not the education itself, but the people and the environment. 

Looking forward to senior year, I would like more than anything to be in person, but life doesn’t always like to work out as we want it to. Now, I could say something like I have learned how to be resilient, but realistically I don’t think I have. Instead, I think the one thing I have learned is how important people and human connection is to me. 

I depend on other people to keep me in check, to keep me the person I want to be. Now being alone is great but too much breeds withdrawal from being the person you once were. 

I think no matter who you are, one common thing unites us. High school sucks, but I think some of the people here can make it suck a little less. 

Tessa Brennan, Staff Reporter