Students look ahead to pandemic-free future, ponder what might have been

2020 was one of the most eventful years in current students’ lives. They have been told to keep their heads up. While this is true, every student has a different hope for the future. However, in order to have a different future at West, many of the current COVID changes would have to be rolled back to return to a sense of normalcy. 

The largest change to this school year has undoubtedly been the safety precautions due to COVID-19. Junior Brandon Mack is ready to end these restrictions as soon as possible.

“Overall a lot of the restrictions are just annoying,” he said. “The barriers everywhere seem like a little much. People just go eat with each other in their cars anyway, so a lot of it isn’t really doing much.”

However, the restrictions of COVID-19 are not the only things students hope to change after this learning experience. Anonymous student John Doe finds fault with the school board for taking so long to make a decision about coming back to school full time. However, even the chaos of change holds promise for the future.

“I never understood the reason for why they had to be undecided after the first meeting and didn’t even know what they were voting on,” he said. “I was shocked when I found out that they actually listened to those students who went into the board meeting. After listening to the students about the parking passes and then those students at the board meeting, I realize my biggest hope for the future, COVID or not, is that the school board will be more involved with students and listen to what we have to say instead of only our parents. After all, we are the ones who have to deal with their changes first hand.”

Along with changes to restrictions and regulations, cancelations of events have been affecting students as well. Junior Claire Garton has been personally affected by the changes, particularly in the realm of travel. 

“Missing out on junior prom and sport events make high school so different than it used to be,” she said. “I was supposed to go to Costa Rica and Panama at the end of the year last year. It got pushed to this summer, but due to COVID, it got cancelled all together. I feel like I missed out on a good experience that I may not get again.”

Though many students and staff struggled with the drastic changes from what once was, Mack is thankful for some of the changes made.

“Masks and the distance between students are important for safety,” he said. “I hope to see everything go back to normal once the vaccine has been distributed with the general public.” 

This year's seniors have probably paid the steepest price regarding lost opportunities. Junior Carter Abitz wishes for better luck for the class of 2022.

“If I’m being honest, this is the farthest from what I thought high school would be like,” he said. “I mean I knew it wouldn’t be like all of the movies but I never thought that this would happen to me. I feel like so many kids in my class are missing out. Junior year is hard and I’m sure most older kids will say the same. The little things matter and to not have those in the most stressful time makes it worse. I don’t know how I would be able to look at my friends and realize that we never got to fully experience high school. We should be planning for our futures, but I can barely focus on next week.”

2020 was a blur for most students. It seems that in the blink of an eye, one year of the pandemic passed. Post-COVID is a time everyone is anticipating. Out of the adversity and challenges, students hope to see a new world improved through the lessons learned.

By Sophie Burke

Published March 25, 2021

Oshkosh West Index Volume 117 Issue VI

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