SCHOOLS
Grateful for an Unforeseeable Future Senior reflects on an unpredictable end for the class of 2020 By Emma Suttell In August, I stood at the gate of Boulder Creek High School, counting down the days until I’d get to walk across the stage at State Farm Stadium. In August, I had everything planned to perfection—all the way down to senior prom and my final concert with my show choir. In August, we were asked to give our senior quotes. Little did I know that the quote I gave at that time would turn out to be particularly relevant to the months leading up to graduation. I chose a quote by a woman named Morgan Harper Nichols. It said, “Let this be the season you keep on creating, even in uncertainty, and even in waiting.” Looking back on it, I’m almost shocked
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that my quote turned out to be more relevant than I ever thought possible. In the moment, I viewed it as an endearing allusion to small obstacles in life that may seem difficult but are definitely surpassable. Now, I realize that my senior quote foreshadowed an unforeseeable future—one for which I am strangely grateful. We seniors would not have guessed that our senior season or recognition night would be skipped. We wouldn’t have guessed our last band, dance or choir concert would be canceled. We wouldn’t have guessed that we wouldn’t see their favorite teacher in person again. It is still heart-wrenching to me knowing that I spent my last day at Boulder
Creek with absolutely no idea that I would not return. As I write this, sitting in my bedroom that I have conveniently rearranged for Zoom classes, nothing feels quite the way I expected. It doesn’t feel quite as personal as promised. Seeing my show choir through a computer screen doesn’t feel the same as standing next to them on the risers; my statistics class no longer resounds with the clicking of keyboards and squeaking of pencils. I’d give anything to stand in front of my English class and perform a scene of “Hamlet” one last time. Strangely enough, although this is not what I had planned, I am thankful for every second of it.
