This year has been difficult, I can't lie about that. I've gone from wishing I never went back to school again to actually never going back to school again. My friends and I really took going to school and going out with each other for granted and that is something I regret most of all. We realize through this time, that once quarantine is officially over and our lives are back to normal as much as they can be, we will never take another moment for granted ever again.

Now to really delve deep into the hardships of this year, I can only really speak for myself when it comes to this topic. There is no way that I would ever wish to undermine anyone else difficulties that have come from this pandemic, and there is no way anyone should be undermining mine. My class and I have encountered others telling us and speaking their minds about what they think we should or shouldn't be upset about right now. We have been told that our graduation and the things that were taken away from us aren't as difficult as some other people have it. Which, in all honesty, is true to a certain extent.

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We do not know what others are going through right now. There are people that have become sick, have lost family members and have lost themselves, not physically, but mentally. This quarantine has taken a large toll on the entire human population and there is no need for us to compete for who has had it the worst. We should all be here for each other and there should be no "he has it worse" or "you don't have it as bad as them". This is a time for all of us to come together and really help each other out and lift each other up, because it is hard to find the light at the end of this tunnel.

Now more specifically, because you clicked on this article, there are definitely things I wish to speak about that pertain to High School students specifically. First of all, it was very hard stopping mid-unit or lesson and switching to remote learning. This was one of the hardest things many of us had to face. Our home lives are completely different from one another, so someone's internet may no have been as strong as mine, or someone's computer may not have been as high tech as others. This was a learning moment for all of us and we had to work with what we had to make it work.

Losing all of our senior year events and moments that were supposed to be our last memories of high school was difficult.

In the beginning, nothing really hit me yet, I wasn't worried about anything at all. We had time, is what I thought, I thought that this pandemic would go away before my prom and my graduation, but it didn't. After figuring out that my last moments of high school were truly cut short, it hit very hard. I had spent nights crying, missing my friends, missing my teachers (more than I thought I would) and missing the moments I would never get to experience with those people again.

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Learning to move on from that was definitely hard, harder than anything I have ever had to experience, but it made me stronger. It made me realize we live in a world that is unpredictable, and nothing should go unappreciated. I had the opportunity to speak at my high school graduation. I got up on the stage in my high school parking lot, looking out on all my fellow classmates' cars. I was nervous to say the least, but once I began, it came so naturally. I spoke loud and proud,I spoke on behalf of my class, my generation and I spoke truth and undeniable truth. People needed to wake up, so I did all that I could to hopefully make people realize that world that we live in. Speaking at my graduation gave me the platform to use my privilege, and I recognize that fully. Graduation was something I never expected to happen, but it did. We were informed that graduation would be sitting in our cars and no leaving the vehicles. I just have to say that did not happen at all. All of us came together and hugged and cried and screamed and laughed for one last time together. It was a moment I'll never forget.

Being a part of the class of 2020 seems like a curse, but honestly, it has made me stronger and it has taught me to love harder. Never take anything for granted.