With my senior year being absolutely annihilated by the COVID-19 pandemic and people’s inability to wear a mask, it’s been easy to feel negative about this school year. I’m sure many others have been doing the same but fear not, I’ve reflected and come up with 10 things about this school year that are actually good.

#10: Zoom bombers
Until this year, something that’s been missing from my high school experience was light-hearted pranks. Aside from the desecration of Marty the Mustang, I can’t think of any other pranks that have happened during my time at DGS.

All that changed this year with the appearance of Zoom bombers. While I haven’t had any experience with them, I hear they’re actually really funny and not at all disruptive to class or in bad taste.

#9: Fashion
I think I can speak on behalf of all guys when I say what I wore to school was one of my main stressors from before the pandemic. All that stress has now been lifted off our shoulders as nobody can tell what you’re wearing or if you’re repeating an outfit when the camera only shows your forehead.

#8: Being well-rested
As a student-athlete who’s always on his grind, walking around school all day completely drained me before my sport even began. Now that my daily activity has gone from two miles to the two steps from my bed to my desk, I can show up to practice well-rested and ready to run.

#7: Mics not working
In the past, I’ve had a decent amount of anxiety about presenting in front of my classes and whether my words would come out the way I wanted them to. Lucky for me, there’s a 30% chance my class can’t hear me anyway with my mic cutting out all the time.

#6: No breaks
Last year in my classes my immediate reaction to the bell ringing was “That’s it? I was having so much fun though.” This year, the fun gets to keep rolling for an entire 80-minute class period, usually without breaks.

#5: Collaborating with other students
In a traditional classroom, it’s usually frowned upon to talk to your classmates for clarification in the middle of a lecture. This year though, collaborating with others during class has been made much easier allowing us to ask questions like, “What are we supposed to be doing” and “I literally have no idea what’s going on, do you?”

#4: Zoom glitches
With the stress of high school learning, I’ve always felt that something I was missing was quiet time in my day. With my four-year-old Chromebook being incapable of handling a Zoom call, I don’t have this problem anymore since there’s a 15-second absence of any noise once every 10 minutes or so in all my classes as my screen ominously reads “Your internet connection is unstable.”

#3: Surprises
Something lacking from years past has been the absence of surprises. Aside from Mustang Way Friday, there were really no random changes to shake up the school week. This year though, I can usually look forward to at least one surprise a week from changing when and where I’ll be having class to an out-of-nowhere decision to change how safe we determine school to be.

#2: Room tours
While talking to get to know my classmates in past years sufficed, getting a room tour from each of them has helped me connect with them in a way neither of us asked for.

#1: Breakout rooms
While people constantly complain about the lack of social interaction since the pandemic began, I feel that breakout rooms offer the perfect substitute for class with other students and not at all the most awkward and uncomfortable interactions I’ve ever had.

In all honesty, this year has been the hardest any student or teacher has ever had to go through so I applaud the effort my classmates are putting in and all the hard work teachers are doing to adapt to a year they never expected. And good job administration for trying.