High school is often thought of as the time in young people’s lives when they discover new things about themselves. This thought about self-discovery is especially true for the Class of 2022, as we were forced to spend time on our own whether we liked it or not.
In contrast to the common thought that as you get older, high school gets better, freshman year was one of the best years of high school for many people in the Class of 2022. For one thing, it was the only normal year we got. Besides that, it was a year where we were given a whole new list of freedoms and the opportunity to make decisions for ourselves in some capacity.
These same attributes carried into our sophomore year, despite the fact that the majority of the second semester was cut short by Covid-19.
However, during the four-month period when everyone was trapped inside their houses, many people discovered a lot of new things about themselves. In addition, the unusual class schedule provided for a lot more time to do other things each day. Unfortunately, many students got used to that feeling of breezing through school.
Junior year has always been talked about as the hardest year of high school, as students create their schedules with the idea that the classes will help them gain some insight into their future career paths. This was all true for us, but a new challenge arose: Finding the motivation for school when many activities were canceled and students only came to school twice a week while the rest of the students in any class attended via Google Meet – which often kept friend groups separated.
I have always considered myself a good student with a drive for completing schoolwork, but my junior year sucked all of my ambition for school out of me. Sadly, I think it did the same for many.
In the beginning of 2020, I found it extremely difficult to learn from the comfort of my own bedroom. Although I would attend all my classes, I paid little attention to what was actually going on.
One of the most depressing parts about our junior year was the dooming thought that our upcoming senior year could end up being just as bad as the senior years experienced by the two previous senior classes.
Luckily, senior year retained some sort of normalcy. The return to school for five days a week was a difficult transition initially; however, it restored many people’s work ethic.
More importantly, the ability to attend sports games again and the return of school dances reinstated everyone’s school pride.
As a result of these past four years, I think my class has demonstrated to everyone that we are capable of resilience. I have seen people who essentially had become different versions of themselves junior year manage to return to the people they once were.
The seniors have developed into a very accepting and thoughtful group of people who are capable of looking at issues from several different perspectives. Through the hardships we endured, we gained a better idea of what it is like to overcome setbacks and it ultimately matured us.
The Class of 2022 has proven that although the return to normalcy is definitely a long and hard journey, we are quite capable of perseverance.