End of the Road B
efore I was even able to properly say goodbye to my friends and teachers, March 13th became the last odd block of my life, the last day of the normal school year and the last day seniors would step on campus as Paly students. Even months later, I’m still not able to grasp the entirety of this crazy situation. Because of the shelter-in-place mandate, the class of 2020 is unable to spend their last days of high school together, reliving memories and making new ones. It’s emotionally taxing to accept that our senior year is over before it even seemed to have started. Amidst our sadness, however, summer has not started and school must go on. For seniors, second semester is notorious for slacking off. After three and a half years of hard work, seniors want to enjoy their last months of high school playing on the quad during class, not completing homework assignments on time and studying just enough to pass. When work was optional, we were able to slack off without any consequences. After spring break, however, the implementation of Required Online Learning Experiences, or ROLEs, has reminded everyone that school is still in session. With required assignments and credit or no credit grades, all students, especially seniors,
have to find the motivation to work hard for the rest of the school year. This shift from optional to mandatory reminded me that while it is still technically second semester senior year, I can’t let senioritis hit too hard and risk being rescinded from college. Working through the assigned work each week, I’ve started to forget what it was like to be in a structured learning environment. Odd and even days have begun to blur together, and my room is now an inclusive classroom featuring one desk for all subjects. Other students have been replaced by my dog, and distractions pop up left and right, lessening my productivity by the minute. Despite my lack of motivation and my inability to part with my bed before noon, I’m still able to complete my ROLE assignments by the due date. Even in these unusual circumstances, I push myself to keep learning, so that I’m academically prepared to attend college next year. Staying focused and motivated is a struggle from time to time, but I stay motivated with the hopes of attending college on an actual campus in the fall. As the virus persists and the memory of senior life at Paly fades, we count down the days to what would’ve been our graduation. With online resources, we continue to work hard but there is no opportunity to play hard in sight. We always knew that the year 2020 would be one to remember, but this is far from what we had in mind.
