My first day of high school seems like forever ago, and considering I just had my last first day I want to reflect on how much has changed.
Personally, starting high school was something I was looking forward to for most of my childhood, but it ended up looking a lot different than what I thought it would because of a global pandemic.
On my first day, one of the only positives was that I could wear pajama pants all day. I woke up to my alarm about 20 minutes before my first class, went downstairs to let my mom take my first day of school picture, and then I went straight to my computer. Something that made my day even worse was my first period gym class. I’ll just say it was a rude awakening for the year.
Along with the hours spent on calls, the only call that got me through the day was my daily lunch calls with my friends, but that was about the only social interaction I was getting outside of the softball practice that I had to go to straight after school. Considering it was the closest I was getting to stepping inside the high school that I have been looking forward to and helped provide a bit more of the high school experience I was craving, I really appreciated having that to look forward to after my first day.
The benefit of doing school at home though was the fact that there was never much homework because we were just always at home.
I didn’t get homework on my first day of high school, but I’m sad to report I did have a surprising amount for my last first day. Thankfully since it’s been years since my freshman year, I am no longer spending school hours at home. It’s surprising to me that I’m thankful to be spending time at school but I have learned to appreciate things a lot more since COVID-19 began.
On my last first day, the only thing that disappointed me was that I had to go to school for homeroom. I signed up for dual enrollment to get a little bit more sleep, but I didn’t get to enjoy sleeping during the whole first week.
I started my last first day by waking up bright and early to get ready to go to school for one hour, just to leave again.
After waking up and getting ready I went downstairs to take my first of many last first day pictures. Then I got to drive myself to school, and it took me a minute, but I found my parking spot! Then the photos began. Once I got to school, I was very excited to get my last Code of Conduct test out of the way. Then, due to dual, I went to brunch with my friends, and then after that, I went back for fourth period, where a typical school day commenced, or at least what is typical now.
Those two days in my life are likely something I will forget in 50 years, but they seem monumental right now at the point of life I’m currently in. Comparing the two first days has (weirdly) made me really appreciate the time I get to spend at school with the people I’ve grown up with. As a senior, I’m starting to have a lot of lasts. Senior year is starting to feel like the beginning of the rest of my life, and COVID taught me to appreciate every little moment.
