I learned a lot from high school. I learned how to manage my time, be tolerant of others’ differences and perspectives, and learn how to be myself regardless of my environment. High school at Lovejoy gave me the opportunities to really explore and grow in knowledge and perspective. The classes I was able to take help me learn how to communicate and advocate for my passions. The AP program really helped me to get a taste for what college courses will be life. The things I learned through high school prepared me for life beyond college.

One of my proudest moments during high school include going to the Race and Politics workshop at Princeton during the Summer of 2018. Attending the conference allowed me to be around others that share my passion for writing. That summer, I also completed and published my first book of poetry. More than anything, I cherish all of the connections I’ve made with my teachers and classmates.  

The class of 2020 expected to have to embrace change after our graduation, but we didn’t expect that we would have to adapt to change so suddenly before our high school careers were even over.  Many of us started our second semester with signs of senioritis; we found ourselves dragging out of beds in the morning holding on to the thoughts that we would be out of high school soon. Personally, I’ve been counting down the days for college.

Even though I thought I was ready to be done with high school, I’m actually sad that we aren’t able to finish our last semester together as a class. We won’t be able to attend the prom and we are all anticipating. We won’t have normal graduation.  Even though we won’t be able to experience those rights of passages, we will definitely go down in the school’s history as the class that didn’t step foot on the campus for two months, but still got to graduate. In a way, our quarantine is like the best senior prank EVER! Finally, I believe we are very prepared to tackle the changes coming our way as we enter college next year.