With school being completely online, there are aspects of high school that this generation’s missing out on. The trials and tribulations of a mere day in high school creates some of the most wholesome memories. This year, students and teachers are separated because of online distanced learning, and now students beg for those little moments during school that were once taken for granted. Of course, students reminisce over large gatherings like pep rallies and lunch groups again, but the feeling of pure bliss and relief when one walks into a classroom and sees a movie on the Promethean? That is unmatched.  

Students miss walking into their first-period class and seeing a movie light up the dark room, and making eye contact with their best friend across the classroom and holding in their laughter. The feeling of being able to sit through a movie after a long day of walking around the school was more relaxing than just sitting all day. 

Sophomore Josh Erd misses the in-class movies more than he anticipated. Having less than one normal high school year under his belt, he didn’t appreciate his luck when he finally got a class where he could relax. “I never thought I would miss watching a low-quality movie made in the 1990s in some uncomfortable desks,” Erd said.

Erd thinks back to the times when he had to run to the Chromebook cart to get one of the faster working Chromebooks before his classmates made the same mission. It was an unwritten rule that unless you were assigned a Chromebook, it was every student for themselves. “Not being able to play baseball and missing my races to the Chromebook took away all my competition in school,” Erd said. 

Missing out on sports games and practices is heartbreaking to athletes and fans. When we think about a full season of sports we forget about the laughs and jokes that came from seeing each other in the halls on spirit days. Those little team hallway interactions could light up anyone’s day and even bring you closer with your teammates. 

Being in your own home has made the idea of chewing gum not as appealing as if you looked across the room and saw someone opening a pack. Giving and receiving a piece of gum was a regular occurrence during in-person school, especially when it got closer to lunch and people started getting hungry. 

Senior Skylar Rothman said one of her favorite parts of in-person learning was seeing and meeting all of the substitute teachers. Seeing a substitute teacher in a class could mean the class was going to be fun and different, and the excitement that it brought could make anyone’s day. “I love meeting new people and I forgot that that was one of the best ways to do so,” Rothman said. 

Since Mar. 13, 2020, a lot has changed. While a lot of this year’s activities have been lost to the Coronavirus, the one thing that students can hold onto forever are their memories. Reflecting on the past, it is clear that people often overlook the seemingly insignificant parts of life, only to soon find that those are some of the best times. Andy Bernard truly did say it best in the Office: “I wish there was a way to know you were in the good old days before you actually left them.”