Camas High School has made me who I am today, a strong individual. I was pushed in the classroom by my teachers, and I overcame circumstances that I faced throughout high school.

I experienced great things at CHS before the coronavirus pandemic, such as the friends I made, competing in athletics, and having some cool teachers. I think everything was looking great in school through my first two and a half years. I was working hard in class and succeeding as a distance track and cross country athlete. The future for me looked very bright and I believe it still does. 

It seemed school was going normal until March of 2020, where all the students at CHS received some crazy news. The pandemic shut down the majority of schools across the United States for the rest of the school year and canceled all spring sports. At first, I was highly shocked by the whole situation. It seemed like everything was coming out of a movie.

Fast-forwarding to November 2020, there still are no sports and no in-person school. Since the shutdown, I have had to do all assignments online and attend Zoom class. I have not particularly enjoyed it and really hope it will not last forever. In the early months, I was very saddened inside and was upset at the circumstances. It felt like I had less drive in school and I was mad about not having the opportunity to break 4:10 in the mile during my spring junior track season. I think many student-athletes have the same feeling as I did during those first few months. They felt somewhat depressed, knowing that they put in all that hard work and would not be able to compete.

Personally, I believe that my senior year has not been the greatest due to the pandemic, but I try not to frown upon things like that. At the start of the school year, I told myself no matter how bad people say things are, I will always have a positive mindset in my schooling and my training. I have used this time to strengthen myself mentally, physically, and psychologically. I have worked hard in school and have maintained better than average grades. Physically, I have run lots of miles outside and have worked on my core strength. 

I hope other people who are just entering high school do not have to go through what I did. The feeling of not being able to go anywhere, the feeling of fun events being taken away from you at every second, and the feeling of the memories missed out in the best year of high school is rough. I believe that everybody needs to be able to adapt to the things that occur in life because that is how you come out successful.