Right now, being a student of any kind is less than ideal. Between online classes, masks, activity cancellation and an unnecessary amount of work is causing students to “focus up” on their school work and not have time to live in the moment. 

Personally, my New Year’s Resolution this year was to work harder to live in the moment and not stress out about things that I am not able to control. This past year has been so stressful for everyone with all different types of competitions being canceled. Although I have been putting hard work in all different types of extracurriculars for the past three years, and this is my final year to have these experiences. I know that I should be taking in and enjoying all of these bittersweet lasts, but I have had a hard time trying to keep myself motivated this year.

For example, I have been involved in Family Career and Community Leaders of America and Future Business Leaders of America my entire high school career. Both this year and last year, all events have been moved to virtual experiences. Last year, when these events were taken away, I was devastated. It was hard to grasp that I had worked hard all year, just to get nothing at all. This year though, I had hoped that some things would eventually go back to normal, but once again, all in-person events were moved to virtual. The news of this had broken my heart again, and I lost all motivation to put in all of the work for these different competitions. Unfortunately, that is the reality that many of us are facing throughout this time of uncertainty.

If there is one thing that I have learned, it is to continue to look at the positive side of things when life gets tough. I really do not know what I would have done without the positive influence that these extracurriculars had on me, but I wish it would have ended differently.