To the KHS Class of 2020, we honor you. We will always remember you, and we love you all very much.
Love,
Your KHS Faculty and Staff
From the heart and soul of a KHS senior…
On March 5, 2020, toward the end of second block, I was staring at the clock on the band hall wall, counting down the minutes until I could leave school and officially start my spring break. My friends and I were positioned in our normal seats along the back wall, eagerly discussing our spring break plans, who we were thinking about asking to prom, what parts we hoped to get in senior showcase, how excited we were for spring sports, and where we were going for our senior trip. As the bell rang, I quickly dismissed my companions and rushed out the door, only saying goodbye to whoever was in my way. Little did I know that this would be the last day of my senior year, due to a deadly pandemic virus.
I had just began passionately training every day for my spring sports: track and field, powerlifting, and indoor percussion. At our first track season practice, I pole vaulted over 9’6”, last year’s state-winning height, and ran 100 meters—the fastest I ever have. I was going to the gym every night to protect my back-to-back North Half Championship title in powerlifting, my District and Regional titles already secured. I was hammering away at my music every night, making sure everything would be played just right for our first indoor percussion competition of the season. I, as everyone else did, subconsciously assumed they would go on, as they always had for generations and generations before. Unfortunately, the outbreak of Covid-19 has cancelled all school and school events for the rest of the academic year. I would’ve never imagined these last moments of my high school athletic career would be snatched from my grasp like this. I am overwhelmed with disappointment and frustration, knowing that I will never have the opportunity to accomplish some of the goals for which I’ve been training and putting in the extra work for four years. My class and I will never get to finish our last seasons of doing what we love.
In retrospect, I feel as if I took every moment at Kossuth High School for granted. Instead of playing on my phone at break, rushing to get to class or home, or doing my homework in class, just to get ahead, I wish I would’ve taken more time to socialize and make memories with my peers. Instead of feeling intimidated and nervous to make new relationships, wish I would’ve taken the chances to start a conversation or make after school plans with more of my classmates. Instead of occasionally settling for one less rep of a workout because I was tired, I wish I would’ve done twenty more. I am so overwhelmed with sadness that I almost feel numb to it all. I will never flip my sticks in a half time show on a Friday night in a cheer uniform ever again. I will never see the Aggie crowd from the top of a stunt again. I will never feel the rush of seeing three white lights after a lift again. I will never get the chance lift another weight, clear another bar, play another song, cheer another game, win another race, compete in another competition with Kossuth across my chest ever again. The underclassmen will probably not get to watch us perform in senior showcase, as I had each high school year. I might not get to walk across a stage in front of my class and all of our friends and family at our graduation. I will never walk the halls of Kossuth as a student again. I might never see some of my classmates again.
As we reflect as a community and as a world, let this be a lesson to us to never take anything for granted.
Appreciate the little things.
Tell that person you love them.
Don’t cancel those plans to hang out with your friends.
Say “Hi” to that new kid or coworker.
Take that risk.
Those people and things can truly be taken away from us at any time, without warning. Don’t make excuses in chasing your dreams; you may not be able to start tomorrow like you planned. Our time on this earth is such a precious, unpredictable thing—don’t waste any of it. Why not live the life you have imagined? Do it.
~KHS Senior, Annalee Turner
