Though being a teenager has always been hard, it’s especially hard when you’re experiencing a pandemic first hand. We teens went through a huge change in our lives in March, from in person school to online school. We had to break our routine from going to school for 8 hours, learning 6 subjects, and having an hour break each day, to completing all of our work in an hour and proceeding with our lives at home. This was a hard shift for most of us teenagers. We were hardly learning anything at home, with so many distractions and our family that is slowly going stir crazy in quarantine. When we went back to school this year, it felt like we were an entire grade level behind. 

Experiencing in person school now is like living in an alternate reality. We show up to school with our masks on our faces, that give us horrible acne. Once we stand up from the seats we were sitting in, we have to remember to disinfect them. Make sure our masks are on. Don’t stand too close to the person next to us. Make sure our masks are on. Wash my hands before I go to my next class. Make sure our masks are on. We’re only so young for so long. We’re living in our golden years washing our hands and pulling up our masks to make sure they’re over our noses. 

As a student athlete, my athleticism has regressed from this pandemic. I missed over half of my summer travel softball season because I was in quarantine. I missed my last ever middle school volleyball game because I was in quarantine. I have only been able to cheer at one basketball game because there aren’t allowed to be cheerleaders or fans at any of the games. All I have left to do is hope and pray that I will get to do all of the things I did before this global pandemic. 

It’s disappointing that I have to live my teenage years wondering if I will ever get to experience the most important milestones in life with the people I love. Will I have an in person high school graduation? Will I ever get to go on my first college visit? Will I be able to have an in person wedding? Will I be able to have an in person baby shower? Will I be buying masks for my first baby instead of diapers? Time will tell.