As the end of my high school years rapidly approaches, the idea of the future is unclear for me. I am unsure about where I will attend college, and honestly, it has been difficult trying to imagine myself in any other place in the world except for where I have been my entire life.
The unknown of college acceptances is a strange feeling. I prepared as much as I could, but in reality, sometimes it isn’t even about my application, but some other factor that I have no control over, and I could be rejected or accepted.
Spending my entire life in Manchester has made me accustomed to the small-town life I have always known. I have gone to the same school system with the same general group of people for years. The fact that in just a few short months the people I have known my whole life and have been surrounded with every single day will soon move around the country to pursue their futures is unfathomable for me.
With COVID, the future is unclear for everyone. We never truly know what could happen next: a new variant or mutation, cases rise, cases fall, and the rest of this section of our lives is a mystery. Even this year, although I am attending the same school, and everything feels pretty much the same, every day is a mystery. The recent increase of COVID cases and new protocols in my school made me wonder how “normal” college will be. Unfortunately, this is the new normal.
Perhaps all of this will cause me, and us, to be more present. To accept that we can only know today and try to understand and navigate it as best we can. All of this uncertainty may help us to be nimbler and more creative in our approach to what comes our way. Who knows, there may be a silver lining yet.
Even though future years and even future days are uncertain in our lives, I am excited for what the future will bring.
