As the school year comes to an end, it feels almost surreal. It feels like September was just yesterday when all of us were on virtual learning. Teachers were learning just as much as we were about using the Chromebooks and becoming accustomed to Google Meets, assigning work, and how everything was to be assembled.

This is a new world that we all had to get used to -- it isn’t quite something that we had a choice or a say in. The only thing that we could choose was how we handled the situation. Thinking about how our teachers worked with us all, how they were patient when it came to technical difficulties that we had, and more never ceases to amaze me. Certainly, this school year was far from ideal.

The pandemic has impacted so many lives in and out of school. I had a sudden realization, not far into the year. In fact, it was fairly early. I was aware that there was going to be a change. Students bore every twist and turn that their teachers challenged them with, regardless of how big or small these challenges were. For that, they are the true champions here -- and the teachers were our guides in becoming them. After working very hard this year, and doing much to stay involved in school and help out, my thoughts about the end of the school year have become prominent.

What we get at the end of this year -- all of the events that are taking place, all of the memories that will never be forgotten of such an embracing and upsetting time, confusion, and fear of how we are supposed to move forward. It is not necessarily what we deserve but it is what we can use to understand how change can affect the world. By seeing that, our confusion and fear of how we are supposed to move forward will slowly dilute as we focus on today instead of tomorrow.

Our abnormal normality becomes our new reality by getting used to a different atmosphere. It is unfortunate that the end of the school had to end this way -- and that it wasn’t the same as a normal year, but it teaches us not to take life for granted. In just an instant, something huge can happen and change everything. But this life that we are living, the way that the school year is ending, doesn’t have to be something that we stay stuck on. The small spark of hope that we should have within ourselves should be equivalent to knowing that one day everything will be back to normal.

Right now, it is certainly not an amazing situation. Pretending that it is will not make the situation better ... As human beings, our nature is to do that. Instead, we need to acknowledge what is going on and hold onto this hope that it will get better. That all depends on us.