Us Panthers have returned back to Pomona once again, but nothing has been the same since Covid. However, things have changed since the pandemic first hit, when Covid came around the first time, my junior year, teachers were constantly wiping down desks, separating kids, and making students use hand sanitizer. It was new to everyone. Now, all we wear are masks, and things seem somewhat normal. I think it´s crazy that the underclassmen may never see what each other look like due to the masks. I dont think Covid will ever go away, or it will be around for a while. It sucks because I havent had a normal year of high school since freshman year, my social year. Covid caused me to lose relationships with people I was once close with or even talked to, now those same people, we just pass each other in the hallway, as if we never shared laughs in class every day. As if we´re complete strangers now. I do also thank Covid in a way because it opened my eyes and showed me who my real friends were. The ones who still reached out to me every day, the ones who still made an effort to keep the friendship going, even though we couldnt see each other every day. I used to care a lot about having friends and all that, but now I realize I would rather have a few close friends than a bunch of fake ones. I think I am at a point in my life where I want a fresh start, this is why I am thankful I will be heading to college next year, and will get to meet new people and start new relationships. One of my biggest accomplishments in life is getting accepted into my college, CU of Denver, I am going there to study criminology. And I will be the first in my family to go to college, I know my parents are proud of me and I have to say I am proud of myself.

This week has been one of the worst weeks of school by far, I am sooo ready for break. I am stressed out with assignments that keep piling up every day, and dont even get me started on finals coming up. All my grades are barely hanging on by threads. And if that wasnt bad enough I have stuff at home and work stressing me out as well. But, one thing that always seems to relieve me is, the Christmas lights. A couple of weeks ago, I was having a pretty bad day and one drive made that all better. My family and I took a drive down by Waterworld to look at the Christmas lights and I just fell in love, I felt like a little kid all over again. The beautiful colors, designs, and sparkle of it all just fascinates me. This weekend we did the same thing, except we went to the state capitol and saw the lights and decor there. There were many food kiosks and we got hot chocolate, it was the perfect weather too, a little chilly, I think I also like admiring the lights too, because that means Christmas is around the corner. This year, Im not really sure what I want, but I do know I want to spend it with the people I love as always.

Finally, the last week of school. Then Break. Then Christmas. Then a fresh start. I feel like this week has been dragging on foreverrr. I think it was just a slow week because of finals, but I am glad it is all over with. I think for the most part I have done pretty well on my finals, however, I didnt do as well as I usually do in math, but, I am just happy I was able to maintain my A. This week I was only looking forward to one thing, and that was giving our very own Barbara Taylor her Christmas present. I am definitely more of a giver then a receiver, I love giving gifts, it makes me feel warm and good inside. And the best thing about this gift in particular, is it was going out to my favorite person. How the whole thing came about was, one day us seniors overheard Brock casually ask Barbara what she would like for Christmas and her words were ¨a banjo, I have all these picks, but no instrument to use them with¨. As soon as I heard this I thought to myself, I have to get it for her, then I whispered to Kayla and said, ¨say I wont buy her one right now¨. Kayla agreed we both should. And from there, Caden wanted in as well as Cassidy. Since it was all seniors so far pitching in, we decided to text Nathan and ask if he wanted to join as well, he said heck yes and before we knew it we bought the banjo in the snap of a finger. Honestly, I am surprised one of us didnt let the secret slip out. When the day came, we all kind of just left class, and told Barbara dont worry we will be back, we went out to the hallway to sign the case, and finally it was time to give Barbara the present. As soon as we did, she was to stunned to speak and thanked us, gave us hugs. She said we are the first people to come to her concert. I cant wait.

New year, new start right? Wrong. So far this year hasn't gone off to a good start. First of all, we have lost a couple of TV stars that everyone loved, the one that shocked me the most was Bob Saget, when I heard of Saget´s death I was a bit sad myself because my family and I grew up watching Full House and learning from it. We would watch it every night before bed. Another big star we lost this year already was Golden Girls, Betty White. I´ve only seen a couple Golden Girls episodes with my Grandma but I can understand why so much more people are devastated and saddened by her death, White had an impact on many people and made lots of people laugh. These two will be missed by many fans but at least they are in a better place. Another reason why I say this year hasn´t gotten off to a great start is because of the way I have been feeling. It´s only a couple days into the new year, and I have already broken my resolution, this year I wanted to shed a couple pounds, not only so I can start eating better and be healthy, but I would also like to be at a comfortable weight for graduation. I was doing good on my diet for a week or so, but then my family and I went up to BlackHawk and were treated to a buffet in our hotel, so I couldn´t pass it up, hopefully, this week I can get back on track. Another reason why I say this year hasnt started off so good for me, is because I lost a friend or two already, but that was on me. This year I want to focus on things that are gonna be good for me and will help me in the future. I realized a couple of my friends were holding me back, so for now I am taking a break with them, I just want to cut all the toxicity out of my life. I hope in the end I have made the right decisons.

This week has been pretty good so far, my highlight of the week was my favorite thing that we do in journalism, and that is what we call Newspaper in a day. In the past years, usually what we do is spend all day in journalism, meaning we get excused for all of our other classes and stay in the lab the whole day. We usually work on our stories or pages for the upcoming magazines, eat some good food, and hang out with our peers. But, this year was a bit different, first, we were in the lecture hall which I wasnt a very big fan of to be honest, I enjoyed staying in the Library in the past because it felt more cozy and not as tight. But at the start of the day, Kayla and I made some very tasty buttermilk pancakes for everyone, then we ate some pancakes and bacon ourselves, edited a couple pages for a very short amount of time before getting distracted, did some photoshoots, ate some more, took a power nap, waved a pickle in the air, and finally decided to try and get a bit more work done. Before I knew it the day came to an end and I have to say, I have never felt so accomplished yet so unaccomplished before. We did get the things that we needed to get done, however, I feel like it took quite awhile to get to that point. We for sure procrastinated most of the day. But hey, nothing makes a person more productive than the last minute, right? I would say something like I hope next years Newspaper in a day is as great as this years, but sadly, all good things must come to an end. This year was my last newspaper in a day and although I am sad, I am forever greatful for the memories weve made along the years, and Im glad I made the most of it one last time.