Then-freshman Anna Blair walked through the massive East building, weaving in and out of what seemed like millions of daunting seniors. The new ‘freshie’ took a sharp turn, making her way down what she believed to be the south ramp.
But as she reached the bottom, she found herself next to the hallway known as the art wing on the north end of the school.
‘‘How on Earth did I get here?,” Anna thought to herself. “I thought I was on the other ramp…”
Although she’s a senior now, Anna still keeps the forgetful, scary memories of her confusing first day close to her heart. She feels bad that her two freshman brothers won’t be able to experience those moments of confusion, or any of the memorable first semester.
“I’m just glad I didn’t miss any of my freshman year,” Anna said.
Anna and her twin Brooke are two of the 450+ seniors beginning the most unprecedented year of high school via their bedrooms. Mitchell and Cooper, the younger set of Blair twins, are beginning their freshman year at SME, wishing they had the opportunity to dodge all the scary seniors and find themselves late to class.
Whether it be the Freshman Link Crew Dance, or playing Assassins as a senior, there are many big events that take place during the first and last years at East. However, when a global Pandemic hits, it becomes much more difficult to live out a normal year of high school. The Blair crew is getting the short end of every stick, with Anna and Brooke missing out on their sweet senior year as Mitchell and Cooper hardly get the coveted freshman experience.
“One of the biggest things I’m missing is an actual classroom,” Mitchell said. “It’s way easier to focus. Also actually being able to talk to friends during class, cause you can’t chat online.”
Although the older twins miss the tiny parts of highschool like side convos in history class and the columbia blue lockers, Anna and Brooke are specifically missing the elements of East that are a little easier to appreciate during the last go round.
“This is gonna sound so stupid, but parking spots as a senior are so exciting,” Brooke laughed. “I got a killer parking spot this year. It’s super random, but I’m sad that I don’t get to pull up on the first day and be like ‘I’m in the front row, this is so fun.’”
The Blair family is one of high athleticism, so emotions were tense within their home when fall sports were originally cancelled. Cooper and Mitchell were planning to start their first year of high school football, and it felt like a football to the face when the announcement was made.
“I was finally getting in the groove,” Cooper said. “I was getting excited, we were getting the team kind of ready, we were just getting to know each other better, and that just got cut off.”
While Brooke doesn’t play a fall sport, Anna plays volleyball. For her and the boys, the announcement that fall sports were back on was relieving. But in a COVID dominant world, you wear masks on the sidelines, you don’t get that after-win-hug and you have to stay six feet apart on the court.
On volleyball’s senior night, rather than having her bio read off while her parents walked her onto the court, Anna stood six feet apart in a line with the rest of her teammates, taking one step forward as the names were announced.
All four of the Blair kids are hoping to soon make their way over to 75th and Mission, and be in that building with those dreadful ramps, for the first time ever, or, the last first time ever. It’s the things the girls never expected to reminisce on, but when they’re stuck at home during the beginning of their senior year of high school, they begin to cherish moments like being lost in the halls as a wee-little-freshman.