COVID-19 will not seem to disappear and allow high school students to enjoy a sense of normality. Although students and staff want to move beyond COVID and return to “normal,” it seems  as though, that ‘normal’ is just not quite attainable. Yet another special school event has been postponed due to COVID: The Sweetheart Dance. Although the announcement may not come as a surprise, some people are still disappointed and frustrated by the decision.

One Green Hope student, Eesha Gurnani, a junior, stated “It was definitely disappointing hearing that they canceled another school dance.” This feeling of being let down is a common consensus especially among upperclassmen as they near the end of their high school careers. She went on to say “…with the less student events we have, the less spirit the students have for their school, which in turn affects their overall performance and the excitement that most students have for school.” Many people looked forward to having a normal high school experience again full of dances, normal pep rallies, etc. when coming back to in-person school. but COVID seems to have different plans for the students and staff.  Having the contagious Omicron variant invade Green Hope threw a wrench into the sweetheart dance.

Mrs. Kimberly Pyland, one of the head coordinators for the dance, had this to say, “Unfortunately the student government, executive council and the class haven’t been real excited about the constant postponements because they’re the ones out on the front lines they’re the ones that the students are giving a hard time to.” Working with student council, Pyland sees first hand the disappointment of these students and not being able to have the usual student events. She went on to say, “I’m hoping to get that sense of community back and just have one event by the end of the year.” The hope for student events does seem to be dwindling down especially as we get farther into the school year. 

Ultimately, students conclusively feel disappointed with the postponement of the dance. And though the unanimous frustration is understandable, in the end, the interest of the student’s safety is being put first and that is something that should be appreciated.