Growing up, I also felt that the seniors at NASH were so old. I can’t believe that in a short few months I’ll be walking in those shoes. 

You always hear people say, “High school years fly by so don’t take it for granted.” That seems like an understatement for me. Having only one full normal year of high school, these past three years have gone by faster than I ever could expect. It hasn’t been processed in my head that I will be a senior next year. After the past year we have had, I truly don’t feel prepared. 

Your junior year is supposed to be the hardest year of your high school career and the year you get to prepare for college. But I think this year was almost too easy, which makes me nervous for my future academics.

This year’s education has definitely been toned down compared to normal years. We have received so much lenience on assignments and tests. As much as I have loved using notes for basically everything in my classes, I know in the long run it will hurt me much more than it has helped me this year. Studying for tests was looked at as unnecessary by many students this year, but I think next year will be a big eye-opener for us when note sheets are taken away. In a sense, I wish that teachers weren’t so lenient about our education this year in aspects of preparing us for next year. 

This year North Allegheny added Wellness Wednesday’s to student schedules. This is a day for students to have a less stressful day at home. Teachers can either have their students meet like normal on Blackboard Collaborate to have a class, or allow them to have an asynchronous period. Asynchronous work means students are allowed to go off on their own and complete work at their own pace. All of my teachers except one or two chose the option of an asynchronous day, meaning I can get all my schoolwork done in only a few short hours. This makes Wednesday a very laid back, stress-free day for me. After being stuck at home for so long and then going back to school and sports, it was a huge adjustment for me. Having a day in the middle of the week to “relax” is super reliving. As much as so many other students and I wish these days could be an addition to all school years, I have realized how much I am losing from not being in full classes all day. I know when we go back to school five days a week adjusting to that schedule will be that much harder. I would love to keep wellness Wednesday going, especially during my senior year, but in terms of next year I think we should have a normal schedule due to academic reasons.

Due to COVID-19 the traditional student-teacher relationships have decreased. I feel like I haven’t been able to connect with my teachers like I have in past years. Whether it’s from not seeing them five days a week every week or based on the fact that I don’t actually know what they look like under the masks, the interactions have vanished. After losing this traditional school life for the past year, I feel like it will be hard to get that back from where we lost it over a year ago. I have been looking forward to my senior year for so long with all of the fun activities that come with it, and maybe not having those opportunities has really drowned my spirits going into next year. I am really hoping things go back to normal so I can have a normal senior year. 

Although these things are making me feel less prepared going into my senior year next year, nevertheless I am so excited for what’s to come.