If I could write a letter to high school it would look a little something like this:

“Dear Algonquin,

Thank you for all of the amazing memories.

Sincerely, Me.”

My favorite high school memory is one shared by many: Kevin Tucker being hypnotized at after-prom. All of us in sweatpants eating Chick-Fil-A at four in the morning, laughing at the members of our class who were up front.

The (not quite) four years I spent at Algonquin Regional High School isare over. That’s a weird thing to say when I’m used to spending 30 plus hours there every week during nine out of twelve months. 

Like all of my fellow seniors, due to the COVID-19 outbreak, my last day physically in Algonquin as a student was on Thursday, March 12. 

The original May 22 and finals week after was stripped from us seniors, and we will never get back the months that we missed. Saying it how it is, with no sugar coating, stings more than I thought it would. We spent thirteen years in schooling, and all of us seniors could practically see Graduation Day, June 7, in our future. 

We could see ourselves walking across the stage, shaking hands with Principal Walsh and the other administrators and finally receiving our diplomas. We could imagine wearing our caps and gowns and turning our tassels. I even had dreams of recreating the iconic jumping picture scene from High School Musical 3.

As a member of the senior class of 2020, I know the others around me will miss our last few months, our Senior Week and Senior Assassin. Maybe we could still do a senior prank, and we will have a killer summer. I’m going to miss my favorite teachers and memories, especially the Health and Fitness department.

But, this is not the end of the class of 2020. We’ve lived 18 years during tumultuous times. We’ll have amazing reunions and parties.

The coronavirus and all that it has taken away from us has made me realize everything I took for granted in my life. I would kill to walk through the D100/G100 intersection in between classes right now, despite how much it frustrated me during school.

But for now, I guess this is goodbye, Algonquin. I already miss high school, and it’s not supposed to be over yet. I miss the noise in the cafeteria during lunch, and the race to get a table outside on nice days. I miss gym class and laughing with my friends. We’ll never get back these times.

“Hope you had a good start to the end. Please enjoy this year. Don’t wish it away. You’ll never get these times back. Enjoy them. Embrace them. The good and the bad,” said a text message my dad sent me after the first day of senior year.

So, for now, I’m taking my dad’s advice. I’m taking the good with the bad and the bad with the bad and everything in between (kind of like the Chinese Yin Yang symbol promoting balance). 

We’ll be back soon enough, and we’ll make more amazing memories. This is a goodbye to high school, and a hello to years of memories waiting to be made.