Live today like you won’t see tomorrow

Today, Thursday, April 9, 2020, at 3:12 p.m. everything changed in the state of Missouri.

Hearts were broken when thousands of students read the devastating news that we would not be returning back to school this year.

For someone who never really loved high school, you would think it wouldn’t affect me much.

In some ways I actually looked forward to the end. Not having to go to school every day. Not being around hundreds of students I really didn’t care to be around.

Not knowing what is going to happen with my graduation is the most unsettling feeling in the world.

As I sit here and reflect back on my 13 years of education, I feel everything from all the great teachers I had to the amazing peer relationships I’ve had. Thanks to many of our district’s phenomenal teachers, I can say I am glad to have grown up here in the Northland.

One teacher who has stood out in my education is Athena Graham, my fifth-grade teacher. She inspired me to be a teacher. She is very dedicated to what she does, in sixth grade I ended up being homeschooled due to social anxiety, and for Take Your Child to Work Day, she invited me to come to her class.

She showed me what it meant to be an amazing teacher. To not only care for your student’s educational life, but also their personal life. I always enjoyed getting her postcards in the mail, and I still have them. To this day, I still hear from her every once in a while. She will always be my favorite and most inspiring teacher I ever had, and I hope I am just as amazing of a teacher as she was.

Without all the love and support from so many in this district I truly would not be where I am today.

I am not ready for this to be over, or I guess I should say, I was not ready. Because it’s happening whether we like it or not.

In this these last few weeks, I looked for inspirational quotes because for me that always helps me through the rough times. I feel this quote is very fitting:

“There’s an end to every storm. Once all the houses have been ripped apart, the wind will hush, the clouds will part, the rain will stop. The sky will clear in an instant and only then, in those quiet moments after the storm, do we learn who was strong enough to survive it.” – Dr. Meredith Grey( Ellen Pompeo), “Greys Anatomy”, season 9, episode 24 “Perfect Storm.”

Eventually, we will see our friends, family, teachers, and others. We will shop whenever we want and go to the pool or get our hair and nails done.

But for now, we need to flatten the curve, we need to stay home as much as physically possible, or at least stay away from others. Even if that means no prom, no senior celebrations, no banquets or no concerts. And most painful, no gown to wear on May 15, and no caps flying to our future. Well, yet…