As seniors we entered this world amidst chaos, following the tragic 9/11 attack, but we learned to survive and thrive. We are now leaving out high school years in the chaos of a biohazardous attacker in which all we can do is hide. You may say we are the cursed class, but I think we’re powerful, supernatural even.

From the moment I entered the front doors of Dearborn High School in 2016, I knew that my four years were going to be memorable, but I didn’t realize that those memories would be written into history itself. One cannot deny the thriving energy the class of 2020 holds. Full of an unbelievable group of students that they just had to end out year early because our legacies in DHS were beyond belief. Just four years ago I remember saying, my graduating year will be in 2020, the start of a new decade and the marking of 100 years of Dearborn High’s Pioneer Pride. 

Spending over three months in quarantine has given me plenty of time to reflect on my high school years and realize a few lessons I have learned to carry with me. To learn to take the days as they are and not to rush life as it is. Take the time to soak in the moments around you. Slow down a bit and focus on the more simpler times in life. I cannot stress this enough as this never ending lockdown has stripped me of the ability to eat lunch in a busy cafeteria again, argue with teachers about attendance records, or carelessly drive around with friends, blasting music with all of the windows rolled down and no destination in mind.

I will miss leading my editor team in the publication of The Pioneer Press. Choosing to join the school newspaper during my sophomore year was a risky decision with no prior experience, and going into the process alone, but it had turned out to be one of the most successful outcomes of my academic career. This publication has opened up plenty of new opportunities, and has introduced me to many lifelong friends who quickly became a second family to me. I will always cherish the late afternoons spent designing pages, fighting over where to order food and hiding from ghosts in abandoned hallways. But I will miss the connections and relationships built with unique individuals and staff around DHS.

If I could suggest any advice to newcomers, it would be to become involved in everything around the school community, tackle as much as oneself can handle. Whether it may be joining a new club, building community service hours or trying something new, do what brings you joy, never be afraid to be held back by other’s thoughts or emotions towards the matter. Their judgment and experience is not your own, so take on life as it comes and transform your four years of high school to fit your own visions. These moments are unique, so cherish them while they last.

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Decision Day

CONGRATS TO THE CLASS OF 2020!

Enjoy the dances and football games,cheer as loud as you can from the stands, or give your best effort to the game. Watch at least one school musical, try not to procrastinate assignments, and keep grades up, they do matter in the future! Meet new faces, build relationships with your teachers and listen to the upperclassmen, some do have reasonable advice. But most of all, never forget what these four years will teach you, remember the good times and the bad, before you know it really is all over.

As the graduating class we need to keep the 2020 vision in mind. Sure, we haven’t had the best start to the new decade, but this is the just beginning of our lives. Senior year does not mark the end. It is just the beginning to transform our lives and make them our own. Start our new lives in a college setting, move on to the greater things we were destined to become, and later tell our children exaggerated stories about fighting this virus and graduating in a glorious drive-thru ceremony.