The year 2020 was set to be one for the books, people just didn’t know what book that was going to be. The year has had a more than rough start with the introduction of COVID-19 and coronavirus. The virus has become a global pandemic and has taken a lot from many people. One thing COVID-19 has done was cancel school more than halfway through the 2019-2020 school year all across the nation. Students across the nation are feeling the effects of the cancelation, but the people who feel it most are the seniors.

Spring is around the time students at Lake Stevens High School begin to feel their “senioritis”, but this year, instead of wanting the year to end and be free like normal, Lake Stevens is feeling the opposite. Students are missing the routine of school every day, and most of all, missing their teachers they spent all this time building relationships and connections with.

“I miss my connections, throughout my Viking Journey. I grew really close with some teachers and counselors and I miss having their support every day,” senior Kyrra Krause said.

With everything going on and the cancelation of school, a lot of students are trying to look at the brighter side of things by enjoying what all this newfound free time has made available to them that wasn’t before.

“I have been able to spend more time with my family and my brother since we are both home now. It’s also been nice to catch up on more sleep during quarantine,” senior Leo Avelino said.

But the thing that keeps running through Lake Stevens Seniors’ heads during this uncertain time is how senior year is gone and how saddened they are by never getting to experience all of the “last’s” they have waited through twelve years of school to get to, like final sporting events, plays, and most importantly, their own graduation.

“I’m honestly pretty upset. I’ve been looking forward to senior year for a while, and I feel like I have only gotten half of it. I’ve missed out on so many last things, most of them being band related. Like our last concert, our last festival, our big weekend-long band festival, senior assassin, graduation and just being a senior,” senior Cameron Hubbell said.

Throughout all the highs and lows of senior year being cut short, the seniors say goodbye to the what if’s and why me’s as they look forward. The Class of 2020 is ready to make that jump towards adulthood, ready to leave high school behind.