A week in the life of a senior
February 16, 2021
5:30am. The sound of that loud alarm on a Monday morning is the most dreadful sound to any teenager. But recently it has become much harder to wake up each morning for school. You may ask why, but it’s actually qui
te simple: there is no motivation to wake up and head to school.
I am sure there is not one high schooler and especially any seniors that are fully enjoying this school year. And as a senior, I can confidently say, this is not the senior year I imagined or wanted.
I know we are all sick of hearing about the virus. I know that we hear it everyday. I know that we are told how much it has impacted our lives. And I know that our lives will forever be different from this virus. I also know that I can’t snap my fingers, make the virus go away, and have a normal rest of my senior year. Although that would be ideal.
Unfortunately, normalcy is far from ever returning. I could only imagine how long it will be before I can walk into Walmart without a mask on. But what I am most worried about right now is, will I have my senior Prom? Will I sit at Vespers and Graduation with a mask on? Will I ever be in school 5 days a week again? But most importantly, will I ever get my motivation back?
As a junior, what kept me motivated throughout the school year was the thoughts of Homecoming being around the corner, the home football game on friday night, and the excitement of going to my first Norwin Prom. But that same motivation did not bleed into my senior year full of zooms.
At the beginning of the school year I had hope. I had hope that the virus would begin to dissipate and things would go back to normal just in time for my senior Snoball. But when Snoball was canceled and I still went everywhere with a mask, rather than COVID fading away, my spirit and motivation towards senior year disappeared.
Now that all of the fun events in the first half of the year have been canceled, it is hard to have an optimistic mind as the second half of the school year begins. Although sports are continued to be played, students can’t go. And watching a livestream isn’t nearly as fun as standing in the student section screaming everytime we score a point.
Along with in-season sports continuing to be played, off-season conditioning for spring sports has started as well. As a student in an off-season sport, it’s easy to say that having to wait until 4 o’clock to have practice so the whole track team can successfully social distance, isn’t exactly convenient.
Now for the masks. I hate squatting or completing a plyometrics superset with a mask on. It frankly is just uncomfortable and gets extremely hot, extremely fast. I can only imagine how hard it is to play basketball while wearing a mask.
The little things tend to steal my motivation from me. Little things like, having to sit at least two desks away from another student, or having to ask for permission to take a drink of water in the hallway. But like everything else, all those little things add up, and frankly it has made my senior year unenjoyable.
Each day is exactly the same. Wake up, go to school or go on a zoom. After school go home, and then go to track. After track go home and try to find the motivation to do my homework assignment that is due at 12am. After struggling to finish my homework, I go to bed and do it all again tomorrow. Everyday is like “Groundhog Day”.
Like I said, I can’t snap my fingers and make life go back to normal. I am sure we would all appreciate that, but unfortunately the life we are living now is our new normal. But what I can do is try to stay optimistic. I do know that trying to have a good mindset will be difficult when there are no events to motivate me. Although since it is my senior year I must have some form of hope as my last year of high school comes to a close. And I recommend my fellow seniors try to do the same.
