I woke up before my alarm on Nov. 13 — an unusual occurrence for me on a school morning — knowing I had the opportunity to attend school for just one day this semester. The day was filled with long-awaited greetings and reminiscing on memories from before COVID-19, times that were painfully simple, only to leave with a gut-wrenching realization that my high school days have been cut short by a whole semester. 

Park has only had two weeks of 25% hybrid learning, granting students two days to be able to attend school this semester. On Nov. 16, Park will go back to distance learning. And while this decision was absolutely necessary for the health of our community, it doesn’t make the rapidly diminishing time us seniors have left at school any easier on our hearts. 

With a rigorous class-load and various extracurriculars, the kind, smiling faces of my classmates and supportive teachers got me through my days before the pandemic began. My own personal community, within our school, has been my strongest support system throughout high school. Being stuck at home this year, staring at my classmates through a computer screen and small Zoom boxes has left me feeling empty and unsupported. 

I left school Nov. 13 with the panic of only having one semester left, where I likely will only be attending school two days a week, leaving me with less time than I ever imagined to say goodbye. I always imagined senior year would be filled with some of my best high school memories, and this year has instead left me with the constant sadness of knowing what could have been.

While I’m eager, motivated and grateful to be moving on to the next chapter of my life and continuing my education elsewhere, I won’t feel ready until I can properly close the only chapter I’ve ever lived through: K-12 school. COVID-19 has shrunk the last of my high school days down to an insufficient amount of time to feel like my time at Park is complete.