When I said I was excited for college, I didn’t mean that I wanted high school to end sooner.

I have been looking forward to the day I step foot on campus as a college student since before I even knew what I wanted in a university. I have been eagerly awaiting that moment since my freshman year of high school, if not earlier.

Ever since I officially committed to Iowa State University this past November, my excitement about college has been absolutely through the roof. I already have an insane amount of Cyclone spirit wear, and I have been planning how I want to decorate my dorm room for quite some time. When I’m bored, I find my mind drifting off and picturing what my life will be like in Ames, Iowa starting this August.

Needless to say, I am pretty excited to go to college. However, I feel like this mindset of always looking forward to the future has allowed me to miss out on the full experience of high school, especially during my senior year. Now that I’ve been stuck in quarantine for over a month, I really wish I didn’t take my time at DGS for granted.

I’m going to miss walking through the halls of our school, waving to my friends and sharing brief conversations during our passing periods. I’ll miss talking with my classmates and laughing at my lunch table. Most of all, I will miss being a member of the cross country and track teams here at DGS; the past four years of running have brought me so much joy and given me a group of people I consider to be my second family.

I think that I got so caught up in planning my life in the future that there were times where I didn’t focus on living in the moment. Yes, it’s cliche, but I think that I lost out on enjoying some memories to the fullest extent. I can’t help but be disappointed in myself when I look back upon those moments, specifically some of the amazing times I completed a really hard workout with my teammates or ran in the rain.

There is so much about high school that I love, and now that much of my final semester has become virtual, I wish I could have a normal end to my senior year. I want to savor being a high schooler while I still am one, but COVID-19 has unfortunately prevented that from happening in a typical manner.

All I can say at this point is that I have learned a valuable lesson from my flawed mindset. I am still unbelievably excited to officially be a Cyclone in a few months, but I will definitely cherish calling myself a Mustang.