March: the Month That Never Ended
Well, here we are once again: March. If someone had told me this time last year that I was about to enter a global pandemic that would last far longer than anyone had anticipated, I would have never believed them. The idea even sounds absurd to me now, and I am currently living through it! As I approach the one year anniversary of masks, social distancing, virtual learning, and the cancellation of so many events, I now look back at what has happened over these months. What a way to spend my senior year!
This time last year my life was pretty normal. I went to school five days a week and was very active after school, balancing dance and theater. I was a part of the ensemble for the Salesianum School production of “Ragtime”. I had rehearsal and went to dance practice about three times a week. Not to mention, I still had to mix homework, friends, and family into my life. I was looking forward to all the things that would normally happen in the spring: prom, spring play, a recital, show season for dance, preparing for nationals, and college visits.
On March 13, 2020, I was sitting in my AP Lang classroom during the period after lunch when someone announced to the class that school would be closing for the next two weeks. As it turned out, those two weeks became the rest of the school year, but we did not know that at the time. At first, I could not believe it. Of course, I had heard about coronavirus, but like most people, I severely underestimated it. I originally had plans for that exact night to go to a Billie Eilish concert with thousands of people. Luckily, the concert had already been cancelled a few days before. I never could have imagined when I first heard the news about COVID that a year later that I would be in a world-wide pandemic that is still ongoing.
There were so many firsts that came with coronavirus: the first time I wore a mask out, the first time I got tested for it, first time an event was cancelled because of COVID, and the first time someone I knew tested positive for it. It was early April when I found out that my dance teacher, Veronica McAleer, had contracted coronavirus. She was the first person I knew personally who had the virus. It was a long few weeks while she was in the hospital. On April 14th, my fellow dancers and I gathered in the Brandywine High School parking lot to welcome my teacher home from inside our cars. It was a very important moment and the story even made it on the nightly news. This was also a big wake-up call that this virus was extremely serious and could affect everyone.
In the first few months of the lockdown I passed the time by doing a whole lot of nothing. Virtual classes were definitely very interesting at first as we experienced many technical difficulties. Over time, we learned to adapt to this new system of learning, but it never really felt like this was actually the “new normal.” How blissfully unaware of the future we were! Truthfully, while many people were trying new things, I spent my days going on walks at the park, watching Netflix virtually with my friends, and spending time with my sister. I had Zoom dance classes every Monday and Wednesday night, but besides that I spent most of my time on my laptop lying on my bed.
As the months went on, spring turned into summer and summer to fall. Cases continued to rise and there seemed to be no real end in sight. When the weather got colder and the novelty of virtually seeing friends and family wore off, life started to slowly return back to reality—kind of. It never truly felt like I actually completed my junior year so the transition to my senior year was a strange one. It was back to the Padua building, back to dance class, and that’s mainly it. There were so many things that I looked forward to for my senior year that got canceled. There was no homecoming, football games, or spirit week, which turned into no big Christmas events, no Winter Ball, and many more. However, the months continued to fly by and now, once again, it is March.
My life currently is nothing like I would have envisioned it to be a year ago. Life is not all bad though. Even if it is not how I would have expected my senior year to be, it is certainly not terrible. There are many things that I wish could have been, but instead I try to focus on what there is now and make the best of it. Not all these events were necessarily canceled, but rather modified to make them safer. I am not sure what the future may hold, but I am hopeful for a brighter and COVID-free future.