It has been over a year since the start of the pandemic and with the increase of free time, students found themselves changing by picking up new habits such as working out, journaling, discovering new fashion or dying their hair. 

Throughout this pandemic, there have been numerous hair trends, including dying the two front pieces of your hair a certain color, cutting your hair short, getting layers or even just dying your hair lighter or darker. Senior Anela Trakic was blonde before the pandemic. Her natural hair color is dirty blonde to light brown, but she used to bleach it to be lighter. A few months into the pandemic, she went back to her natural color then recently dyed her hair to a dark brown. “In the beginning of the pandemic I was blonde, but I decided to go back to my natural color for different reasons. I really liked the darker color so I gradually went darker and now I have dark brown hair and love it,” Trakic said. 

With virtual school, students may be learning to be more independent and responsible. Junior Charlie Qin has changed by keeping a planner to be on top of his school work and other work, such as SAT/ACT prep. “I definitely have changed a lot from the beginning of this pandemic. During in-person school, I didn’t really use my planner and forgot to do my homework a lot, but with virtual school, it can be hard keeping up with what assignments are due when and when tests are because we only have each class two times a week. Using my planner has helped me be more organized and learn time management,” Qin said. 

Senior Michael Gordon has changed multiple ways, including being more responsible, active and becoming closer to his family. “I got closer to my parents because I spent so much time with them and I’m super grateful because I’m going off to college soon. I’m making the most out of the time I have with them. After spring sports cancelled last year, I had to find new ways to be active and stay fit so I started working out and going on runs. I think since I have so much extra time, it’s much easier to do different things. I also feel like I’ve been more responsible because with online school, it’s easy to get distracted or forget about homework. Especially being a senior in fourth quarter, senioritis can really hit you hard but I’m pushing myself to finish this school year strong by staying on top of things,” Gordon said.