I Hope
By Sadie Meeker-Klingele
Hi
How are you?
I hope you’re doing well
I hope you’re as happy as you had wished to be
I hope you smile everyday
I hope you laugh with your family often
I hope your sister is still an equestrian champion
I hope your mother still loves her work
I hope you’ve traveled the world
I hope you’re as daring and adventurous as you had hoped you’d be
I hope the sunshine follows you wherever you go
I hope you have the money you wanted in order to donate to your favorite charities
I hope you helped rebuild rural communities
I hope you had fun
I hope you’ve made your mother proud
I hope that everything you’ve been through has only made you stronger
I hope your mother finds her great love
I hope you and your sister have all the friends you want or need
I hope you’re still inspired by everything you’ve seen, whether it be good or bad
I hope you’re doing exactly what you’ve wanted to do since you were ten years old
I hope your dreams have become reality
I hope your adulthood is filled with joy
I hope that you’ll be satisfied with your life when you die
I hope you’re doing well
I hope you’re healthy
I hope you’re happy
Sincerely,
Your Past
To a Bright Future
By: Anders Nielsen
A majority of my High Schooling time period (so far) has been at home. School has changed, masks are required, and even smaller classrooms are used to follow COVID-19 guidelines. Vaccinations are becoming available, everyone over the age of 12 is able to be vaccinated to stay safe against COVID-19. COVID has affected all of us, with sports, schooling, and even everyday life. The future holds light, new possibilities, the unexpected. Life can’t get any worse. So, the unexpected has to be better. The future can change the world, and it will shape us to become the people we want to be. Everyone holds a bright future, but whether someone will pursue their dreams is a whole nother story.
Tenacity and Perseverance
By Robert Aiken
To relive the past, to relive what was forgotten,
To relive what was seen, and relive what was foughten.
To take what has been lived, to take what has been enjoyed,
To take what was wept, and now to rejoice.
To make a new sound, and follow a new drum,
To make new hobbies, and celebrate under the sun.
To feel the warmth of finding peace,
To make amends with others and be at ease.
I now look at the birds differently as the seasons begin to twist, shift and change.
I see a new light and things now reign like Fortuna and sing new songs in range.
To look at Mount Hood, the memories we all share,
To look at ourselves, we’re tenacious, we’re almost there.
To relive the past, to relive what was forgotten,
To relive what was seen, and relive what was foughten.
Optimism
By Edita Omerovic
If this abnormal year has done anything, it has given us time. Time to think, to improve, and to ponder what's to come. It gave us time to explore new hobbies and practice new beliefs. Our once in a blue moon activities have become everyday things, giving us the opportunity to master them. Our home has become a ten in one, an office, a bedroom, a gym, an art studio, and a chef's kitchen. Saving us hundreds in gas money. Looking forward, we can take the things we have learned, the things we have perfected, into the future with us. We can take the stories of quarantine with us to the future generations.
Looking at the positives in times like this has become a little difficult, especially since all anyone can focus on is the things that we have lost. But we need to look at the things we have gained, no matter how small they are. You never know how the things you have learned now can help you in the future where we go back to normal. Who knows you might even miss all of the structured alone time that you got over this past year and a half. Optimism can be one of the greatest tools one can have, and Covid-19 might have been the one to have taught us that.