An Alternate Ending -By Kaleigh West

I started this school year by writing my first blog post about both my favorite memories from freshman year as well as my aspirations for this school year. Given that this is the last blog post of the year, I thought it would be appropriate to come full circle.

I should start by admitting that I was not particularly excited to start this school year. As somebody who doesn't really like change, I came in on the first day in September wishing that I could just continue freshman year. Of course, time doesn't work that way, so as much as I longed for the past, sophomore year began.

It didn't take me very long to change my mind.

I can't tell you exactly when I started to really enjoy sophomore year. My guess is that it's because it didn't happen overnight-- it happened very gradually. As I started to get used to my new schedule, my new classes, my new classmates, and my new teachers, I think I slowly started to realize that while this year certainly was not freshman year, I could enjoy it just as much. After I realized this, it became pretty easy.

This year definitely had its fair share of ups and downs. Yeah, there were days where I was stressed out of my mind, and there were days where I wanted nothing more than to just stay at home and get a break from it all (pretty ironic-- more on that later). More importantly, just like I said about freshman year in my first blog post, I made some pretty amazing memories. I have built new relationships as well as strengthening existing ones. If I'm being honest, there wasn't even one big memory that comes to mind when I reflect on this year. This year was about the little things-- the inside jokes, the fun projects, the super cool stuff I learned in some of my classes, and even just sitting in the hallway or walking around the school before homeroom with my friends. Looking back, these little things are more memorable than homecoming or concerts or any of those types of things. 

Of course, sophomore year didn't get the same fairy tale ending that freshman year did. We had our last real day of sophomore year without even realizing it. This year, we didn't get to spend the last few days before finals signing yearbooks or sitting outside while eating bagels at Safe Stock. We didn't get to walk out of our last final exam while leaving all of our stress behind with it (I guess I'm not too mad about missing out on this one). 

Sophomore year is going to have a unique ending-- instead of taking one last look at our classrooms before leaving for the summer, we're going to sign off of a Google Meet for the last time. It's definitely going to be weird to just end the entire year with a press of a button. 

After this year does end, my focus will shift to looking ahead to junior year. Unlike the end of last year, I really don't have the faintest idea of what the first day of junior year will be like. Will we all be wearing masks? Will we all be in school every day? Will we even get to go back to the school at all in September? Trying to imagine next school year certainly presents a unique challenge. I hope that we get to spend at least part of next year at school. Either way, I just keep thinking about how amazing it's going to be whenever the day is that we get to go back.

With all of this being said, we still have a few weeks left of this year, which I am definitely going to enjoy while it lasts. Next year, whether we're still at home or back in school (to a certain extent at least), I'm going to try to do my best to not wish I could go back in time. I now realize that I made that mistake at the start of this year, and if there's anything that this situation has taught me, it's that we have to enjoy what we have while we have it. This is probably easier said than done, but I'm definitely going to try.

We have all become a bit too familiar with this logo...