An Open Letter to the Class of 2023

As a freshman, this has been a whirlwind of a year for me, as it was for most of you as well. Coming into an entire new school to start off the year isn't easy. I, like many of you, faced many obstacles, such as not knowing where to go, what to do, etc. Aside from that, my time at SHS was off to a strong start, until COVID-19. 

When the coronavirus first came about, most of us didn't think much of it. That changed very quickly. What I personally believed was a big media stunt became a global pandemic. Within moments, we were all locked into our homes, imprisoned by an invisible disease. At first, I was scared. I didn't know what I was going to do with my life for the next few months stuck inside. We were panicking, we could not go out in public, and we had no plans.

But, as time moved on, we pushed through. Waking up at 9:30 rather than 6 is my personal favorite feature of this quarantine. I've been more productive than ever before. I was able to focus on myself more since I had no other distractions. 

In my eyes, the coronavirus was a wake up call to the entire world. It was a wake up call to let our Earth breathe and recover to what we done to it, especially in this century. For example, China saw its first blue sky a couple of weeks ago, due to the otherwise unheard of lack of pollution. The water canals in Venice, Italy, are almost crystal clear because of COVID-19 protocols. These environmental changes have been an eye-opener in times like this. 

In my opinion, the coronavirus has brought us good and bad. I would not be surprised if  history teachers incorporate this pandemic in their lessons fifty years from now! However, always remember to stay safe and stay home. It's the only way to prevent COVID-19 from spreading even further. 

- Eric Dau, Class of 2023.