If only I could get rid of the memory of this year and move on, that would be just dandy. Sadly, I’ve been cursed with impeccable recollection. 

For example, I remember every hobby started and not finished, as well as every item ruined by the 1:00 a.m. urge to do some sort of craft. So unless Will Smith from “Men in Black” jumps out of the TV screen with that memory loss gadget, I’ll have to keep all of those quarantine memories. 

But it hasn’t been all bad.

Throughout quarantine there have been many trials and tribulations. A never ending sequence if you ask me. But, man do I think we’ve learned a thing or two from it. 

Things like positivity and resilience have become most apparent in these unprecedented times. I see it when I walk into school greeted with a new normal by the counselors and my teachers every single school morning.

This is definitely something we should carry on, but the overly positive attitude makes it feel like we moved on from quarantine way too quickly. I can’t help but think it hasn’t affected them, when I know for a fact it affected me. Did they do something better than me?

In actuality nobody “did” quarantine right. You couldn’t. Although there are many disease-centered apocalypse films, none of them would have prepared us for what was to come. The point is I think we all put a little too much pressure on ourselves to make the most of our year sentence at home. 

I have the privilege in that my only goal was to try to keep sane throughout it and honestly even that didn’t exactly work out. I remember getting so upset with myself. I barely had the motivation to just simply login to ZOOM anymore. There were times when I would log on and go back to sleep just to wake up to my teacher calling my name. 

Despite the quick action to improve skills I’ve learned just to not get in trouble, I felt useless. I don’t know about you, but I definitely had lost myself a little bit over the year. I never realized how co-dependent I was on other people for my general motivation and happiness.

Maybe it was the assemblies, maybe the sports games or clubs. Maybe it was the student body President and VP blasting music while holding the doors open in the mornings or the crowds of people in the cafeteria and halls. Maybe it was the dances. But I think we all fed off that energy and as corny as it sounds that community kept us going. 

I have yet to come to school and think “Yep, this is Shorewood I know.” 

I might be romanticizing high school a little bit too much but what would you expect after only having a taste of it at the beginning of my freshman year then being pulled away from it for a whole year. To think it’s probably even worse for the freshmen of 2024 who didn’t get anything at all.

So from all of this, what is there to take away and learn?

• To take it easy and be kind to ourselves. Take some more time to focus on yourself. There’s no need to push it to the breaking point just to improve on things like grades. When we don’t get grades we’re satisfied with, we have to remember that does not make us any less worthy.  

• It’s more than okay to ask for help when you need it. There are people around you who care for you and will be there for you when you need it. I think something I needed to hear was that it doesn’t make you weak when you can’t do everything by yourself. In fact, it makes you more admirable to know when you need to stop and let others assist.

• Let go of fear. As I said before, I sort of lost myself this year so I’ve been learning how to become myself again. With that I’ve had to push through the fear that I come across as awkward or weird, because honestly who isn’t right now

• Lastly, Don’t take the people around us for granted. This summer, let’s try to hold on to the time we’ve had to connect with family and friends while things are almost going back to normal. Equally, we should thank our teachers, staff, coaches and community at Shorewood for having to reorganize and be extremely flexible while simultaneously motivating themselves and us to keep our education going.

I don’t think we’ve lost that Shorewood or community energy, I just don’t think it’s the same. But if we keep what we’ve learned, that energy will be bigger, brighter and more unifying than ever.