It’s Monday, August 12, 2019. I remember waking up, putting on my outfit that had been picked out the night before, brushing my teeth, and sitting down for breakfast. That morning I felt like I had all the time in the world. I was beginning high school. I walked into my first class, which wasn’t even on campus. I had Agricultural Biology at the farm. I remember wanting to be involved as much as possible at Westmont. I played both volleyball and basketball during my freshman year. I joined CSF during second semester, and knew I wanted to join LIFE Crew the next year because I appreciated my leaders that helped me transition into high school. Even with everything I tried to accomplish my freshman year, it zoomed by—literally. When school shut down in March, I was stuck inside my room for hours a day, listening to my teachers talk on Zoom.
Sophomore year was also a blur as I sat in my bed, completing assignments and barely talking in Zoom breakout rooms. All club meetings were virtual, The Shield moved from a physical newspaper to an online website, and basketball season was confined to outdoor practices and masks.
Coming back to school for junior year seemed so difficult. It was commonly known that junior year was the hardest year, and after spending my first two years of high school basically online, I felt very unprepared. However, junior year provided me with countless amazing opportunities. I became more involved in clubs and found a passion for writing in my Journalism class. I found my real group of friends and learned how to balance school and friendships. I got my first job junior year, which taught me money management and customer service.Now, we arrive at senior year. After trying to get involved as much as possible during my first three years, I wanted to participate and take advantage of everything my senior year had to offer. While it still went by crazy fast, I tried to step out of my comfort zone and try new things. I became an editor for The Shield, joined powerpuff during Homecoming week, and joined new clubs like Bring Change 2 Mind. Basketball season during senior year truly made me realize how fast high school went by. Senior night had me so emotional, sobbing as my teammates all talked about the last three or four years and how much we were going to miss the team. Girls I had become best friends with through basketball were now going to be so far away in the next few months. Although I am sad and will miss my time in high school, I am looking forward to what college brings, and hopefully it won’t fly by like high school did.