By MICHELLE WILLSON, Features Editor

A year with covid. A year of lockdowns, sickness and death.


A year ago, we were excited to finish the semester online. We were making whipped coffee and cloud bread while we stayed at home. We spent the first quarantine binging Netflix series.


We were scared of the unknown, but we were just maneuvering though our days like nothing had happened.


It is finally starting to hit me that things will never be the same. We won’t go back to the “normal” we had. There will have to be a new “normal.”
It really feels like we are living through a dystopian society novel.


I got my first vaccine on Saturday. I am trying to do my part to keep people safe.


To quote one of my favorite movies: “When one can see no future, all one can do is the next right thing.”


Yes, that is a “Frozen 2” quote. But right now, it is so true. I know that a lot of us feel at a loss right now, and so we must take it just one step at a time.


I am graduating, but I have no idea what awaits me on the other side — and honestly, it is scary.


I have never been one to look too far in the future. I try to focus on the present, but the future is coming a little too fast for comfort right now.


I just wish that there would be a way to ensure a secure path, that I could be certain that where I am going is where I need to be. But I can’t find that now.


So, for now, I will get vaccinated, apply for jobs and pray my grades stay high enough that I can graduate.


To any student struggling right now, stick with it. Graduation is fewer than two months away. If you need a break, be honest with your teachers.


I realize we just had spring break, but sometimes that can feel more like a chore than a vacation.


Find little things that give you some spare serotonin. Do some crafts, make some childish-looking art, dance around the room when you are alone, hammock, play in the rain or just hang out outside.


Take a deep breath. You’ve got this. I believe in you.