This past year has been a wild ride for nearly everybody on planet Earth. Fear, disappointment, hope, loss, triumph, and adaptation have been common themes throughout 2020;  every student faced different challenges. 

“This year has been a lot different than every other year. Being online wasn’t the best and I didn’t get to see a lot of the people I usually do when we are in school,” sophomore Landon Barnett said. 

It has been a rough twelve months, and those months have shown humanity some tough love; it has forced many people to face difficult facts.

“This year has taught me who my real friends are by showing who would stick around when things got hard and we could barely see each other,” junior Samantha Stieglitz said. 

While following the guidelines so that we are healthy is important, it is understandable that students had a hard time adjusting, and still are. 

“I hate that we have to wear masks every day to go anywhere, and I hate that sports are getting canceled or postponed,” Barnett said.

There has been a substantial amount of negative change, but remembering to count the silver linings can really keep your spirits up and help with the toll this year has taken on us as a society.

“Being by myself in quarantine for a long time helped me personally grow and find what I truly enjoy doing in my free time. I got rid of the people in my life who showed their true colors by completely disregarding what was going on around them; refusing to wear masks and going to parties,” Stieglitz said. 

It seems that ignorance was a big issue throughout the year; students are considering the meaning behind their friends breaking COVID-19 guidelines.

“The past year has taught me that humanity is doomed. People don’t want to follow the rules regarding social distancing and masks. What other laws are they breaking?” Barnett said. 

It is safe to say that almost everybody wishes that this pandemic would come to an end, but as we hit a year since the beginning, COVID is still lingering on.

“I do not think it will go away. Although cases are down, people are still testing positive and the mask mandate was lifted in Texas which means cases will most likely spike again. I think COVID will become like the flu because it’s always evolving, but I don’t think it will always be this big of a problem,” said Stieglitz.

The last year has had a great impact on several aspects of our lives; if you are feeling down about the current situation, that is okay. However, we are on the downhill climb and there are so many blessings hidden in this mess of a year. Keep your heads up, and your masks up too.