By Ivy Kwok

   At first, I was relieved. No school for at least a month felt like the break I needed from senior year.

   No lengthy essays. No frustrating math problems. No stressful studying. It all seemed like one strange dream. 

   As the weeks went on, however, my thoughts began to shift. Spending day after day at home watching Netflix and Youtube instead of being in a classroom may seem like any high schooler’s fantasy, but, after three weeks, it quickly lost its appeal. Each day, I felt more and more restless, craving something other than the same episodes of “The Office” and “Haikyuu.”

   As weeks passed with no sign of school reopening, the celebratory sensation I had once felt when the closure was announced morphed into worries like, “What are they going to do now?” and “Is everything going to be okay?”

   When we left on March 13, we all expected to come back before graduation and say our final goodbyes. We never thought that that would be the last time we got to see each other in person. 

   The news that school would not be reopened at all confirmed the sad, but inevitable truth: we would not be coming back. All the events that seniors looked forward to and any hope of being able to reconnect with the friends we left, was officially shut down. 

   Personally, as a senior on the swim team, the abrupt end to our athletic season was the most disappointing. Even before the coronavirus problems erupted, our season was already faced with several looming challenges. The doubts and questions that floated in every swimmer’s mind always seemed to be, “We still don’t have a swim coach” and “Will we even have a season? ” 

   The prolonged absence of a swim coach and the long process of hiring one resulted in a season shortened from the start. Adjusting to new coaches, losing more than a month of pre-season training, and trying to make up for lost time, I felt disheartened. The coronavirus seemed to be the fitting cherry on top of our seemingly ill-fated swim season. 

   Gabrielino is not the only school that has been affected, as students throughout the country have been forced to close down. The news organization, Education Week, cited 48 states that have ordered or recommended school closures to last for the remaining of the year, affecting 50.8 million students and 124,000 public schools. 

  It is unfortunate that we do not get to celebrate all the hard work we put in with events like Prom and Graduation, but we also have to realize that there is little we can do. While we are allowed to feel frustrated and bitter, staying safe and prioritizing everyone’s health is ultimately the best option we have in our current situation. 

   While the world may seem like it is on the verge of collapse, there are still things to be grateful for. The age of social media and the internet has made digitally connecting with others easier than in any other time period. According to website Broadband Search, from the year 2000 to 2019, internet usage has increased 1,157 percent and 4.79 billion people worldwide have access to the internet. If we were living twenty years ago, I imagine we would be feeling much more isolated, helpless, and lost than we do now. 

   Is it sad that our senior events were cancelled? Of course. We are allowed to feel angry and disappointed. However, it is important to realize that there is truly little we can do besides wait and continue prioritizing health above all else.