Senior year, it’s finally here. Anyone who knows me or has talked to me for all of five seconds knows that I could not be happier to graduate and leave this town. I can’t wait to enter a new chapter of my life, and explore a whole new world. 

These four years have flown by so quickly, and dragged on. I know, quite the paradox. Freshman and sophomore years were so quick and easy. There was no pressure of SATs, or college applications, and it was when I was beginning to establish my own self identity. It was the calm before the storm, and what a storm it was. 

Junior year, the most memorable year. It was all the beauty and freedom of the sea, but ended with all the devastation and terror of a storm. COVID-19, or the coronavirus, placed the world on lockdown, causing everyone to move back home, and to change their normal way of life. 

My brothers and cousins had all moved back home, and suddenly I felt like a little kid again. I was reminded of my elementary school days where we all lived under the same roof, and to experience that before senior year was discoertening. 

Speaking of senior year, it’s only now as I write this do I feel like a senior. Not when I took my senior pictures, or filled out college applications. No, as I finally get to physically sit in my classes, have a senior night, take my AP tests, and write my valedictorian speech, do I feel like a senior. 

The coronavirus took away the latter part of my junior year, and left dread on how the following year was going to pan out, especially with college applications and SATs. The virus also took away the greater portion of my senior year, making it harder to do the traditional senior events that are done to celebrate the seniors. Sometimes if I stop to think about it, I get mad at the world for this happening to us, and sad for all the things we’ve missed out on, but I have to remember that all I can do is make the best of it, and I have. The storm may have destroyed so much, but it’s up to me how I deal with the aftermath of it.

I made memories with my family, and tried things that I wouldn’t have tried before. I explored the outdoors, and went on hikes that have shown me how beautiful California truly is. (California is the best state, hands down.) I helped build an old Jeep, learned how to drive a manual transmission car and a dirtbike. I became a baker, a better cook, and that’s only the tip of the iceberg. 

Yes, these two and half years in school have flown by, and the year plus some in the pandemic have dragged on, but I learned and grew so much in that time. The calm before the storm was quiet, peaceful, and after the storm it was new, different, and yet it was still beautiful. 

Time to see how I grow in the aftermath of this storm.