As the year is coming to a close for the seniors, I’ve been feeling different emotions towards finally graduating. This year was far from what any of our freshman selves expected our final year at Prep to be. Seniors could feel like they are “missing a piece” to their high school career. There wasn’t homecoming, assemblies, or the class being together as a whole. Although this is all true, as we move forward into our next stage of life, we should remember what we learned from this year.   

This year we learned a lot of patience; with each other and with the world around us. We waited patiently for a vaccine and for things to start to return to normal. We waited for our Zoom calls to unfreeze while we sat through math class. We learned to be patient and to show compassion with each other through trying times in our personal lives.   

We learned how to keep meaningful friendships without being able to see each other every day. Some may think that this is an easy task with social media always at our fingertips, but COVID has proven that differently. We didn’t get the laughs in the classroom or the whispers of confusion in our last year of Collegio.  

Something else we learned was resilience. This past year there was exciting as well as disappointing news. But through these moments we learned how to find the good in the bad experiences here at Prep. We received the news that we would not be returning to in person school for a while in the fall, but we were resilient to not let that break the spirit that the class of 2021 carries.  

We can take these skills to when we face new challenges in our future. We will be one of the most patient and resilient classes in Prep history. Although this past year has been unfortunate and not what anyone expected, it provided any opportunity for us to show the Prep community what the class of 2021 is about. We were leaders for the underclassmen who have never experienced Prep the way we have for the past two and a half years.  

Last year senior Lauren Day wrote that this is not a goodbye, but a see you later. It’s our choice now to remain in contact with each other. Although I know that not everyone will stay close friends as we move on from our time at Prep, don’t forget what this class has taught you. There will be memories from the laughs of the gym, the conversations in the halls of Adelphia, and stories exchanged in the Great Room that I won’t forget. These past four years are a crucial time in the formation of us as people, and I cannot believe that I was lucky enough to grow with some 210ish people around me. Everyone that I have met has taught me something, and I am sure that I can say the same for many other of my peers.   

So, class of 2021, I won’t say goodbye, but see you later.