At the start of my high school career I was very quiet and reserved; I would spend every weekend studying and never give myself breaks. I would only devote myself to the part of my life that I knew would contribute to a better future. 

But that was before I even realized that my first year of high school would be completely virtual. So naturally, when I came back in person, I started facing problems right away. Seven hours inside a building started to become tedious. Keeping up with the school work was stressful and I would sometimes even sleep as late as 1 a.m. just to get the finishing words of an assignment done. 

While I was at home studying for hours on end, other people were out enjoying the football games within the student section causing me to have a sense of actually missing out on the memorable parts of high school, which internally made me feel very isolated. 

But if going back into a building where learning takes place has taught me anything, it’s that sometimes you have to push yourself out of your comfort zones to heights you never thought were achievable even for yourself. 

Whenever I would see The Central Trend pop up on FX as a virtual student, and see the influx of stories along with the variety of pieces that you could write, it made me start to think about what classes I was interested in and is a part of the reason I am currently writing this story to you, fellow reader. 

Teachers’ faces who had taught me online started to become more familiar the more I’d see them walking through the hallways. Don’t get me wrong, it was very nerve-wracking seeing them head-to-toe because I mentally had to remind myself that they were not robots and were indeed real people. 

But if there’s anything going back in-person has taught me, it’s that sometimes you have to learn to take risks but also focus on the now because you will never be able to relive the memories confined within the four years of your high school career. 

If you had asked me a year ago if I would want to go in person, I would have immediately said no, but now that I am almost halfway through high school, I have found a community that will allow me to fall back onto them when it feels like me against the world. 

Although I do wish I had joined this class my freshman year of high school and had gone in person, I think in some twisted yet mystical way, the universe was secretly listening to my dreams and making sure that my demands were met. 

So even though, my high school was cut a year short and I had to wait 365 days to suck out the most fun out of what’s left, it all worked out in the end. But all I have left to say to my sophomore year is this: Thank you, for the ups and downs, but for also reminding me that it’s never too late to start living your life, even in high school.