It’s December 31st, yet again. Another year has passed. Your longing for a fresh start is raging as the time is ticking down, giving you the feeling of redemption. 

2020 was a year like no other. Between fires, presidents, lockdowns and pandemics, we have truly seen it all. 

Although it is easy to think that the negatives overshadow the good of last year, it is always nice to reminisce on the past twelve months. Over this past week, 20 students from Rocky Mountain High School reflected and shared their experiences from 2020–good or bad. 

Emily Holcombe (sr), Sophia Elmore (sr), and Maddy Clear (jr) shared that they learned to stop putting others before themselves too much. “You need to put your needs first in order to be happy, and once that happens you can focus on others,” Holcombe said. 

“I learned a lot about self love and what I deserve. I feel like when life is constantly moving you don’t see how people are treating you/how you deserve to be treated. I’ve focused a lot on myself the past year and I think I was neglecting that a lot prior to 2020,” said senior Julia Baietti. 

The idea of self love was especially important over the past couple of months. Being in isolation had us all figuring out what we need to do for ourselves. Senior Elise Smets learned that taking time for yourself and learning how to be alone in moderation can be a peaceful form of self care. Similarly, junior, Linnea Gustafson, learned to love herself for who she is, and not dwell on what she’s not.

Another large part of taking care of yourself is determining who is meant to be in your life. Some of us discovered the people who are not meant to be kept around. Junior Darby McKee stated, “I learned to never trust a girl.” 

On that note, junior Claire Patton stated that she “hates men” and learned she does not need them. “Prioritize those closer to you, they’re the ones that will stick around,” senior Jake Swan added. 

2020 taught us all how to be “tech savvy” with everything becoming virtual. Online school has its pros and cons. Sophomore Henry Lasher discovered that he likes working from home and that “online school is fun.” However, sophomore Quinn Jones shed light on the other perspective by sharing that he doesn’t like talking to people in an online fashion. 

Seniors Wylie Kruse and Daniel Kelley learned the acts of perseverance and patience. “Patience is a virtue; not everyone possesses it, but it is truly a gift,” Kruse shared. 

Junior Gage Gaschler shared that he simply learned how to be a better person over the past twelve months. 

One of the biggest things 2020 has taught us all is that life is not always great, so we might as well “make the best out of all situations,” sophomore McKenzie Eckman said. 

“I learned just to enjoy life as it comes at you because you can find joy in a lot of little things. If you dwell on all the bad things then life will suck, but if you live it with joy it can be fun,”  sophomore Naomi Duran said. 

2020 has been a whirlwind of emotions, experiences, and life lessons. So, let’s raise a glass and take what we learned into 2021!