The 2023 class has been through the ringer and I’d like to take a moment to acknowledge this. We came into high school ready to take on the world, the challenges, the new friends, scarier teachers and seniors, and so much more High School had to offer. We were going strong, going to all the dances and enjoying our freshman year. March hits and we hear about this virus based in China. Next thing you know 5 people in California had it and the Country tried their best to stop it by shutting all the schools and workplaces down for 2 weeks. We were all excited about this, but little did we know how much this would affect us.

The 2 weeks went to 4, and then 6, and then the rest of the school year. Teachers gave us work online but didn’t require us to do any of it. Personally, I loved the time I spent with my mom, but when school started back up again and I was left alone all day everyday, things got dark. This same feeling accumulated for our class throughout our entire sophomore year, while we did online school with little to no motivation to succeed. Thankfully we came back stronger and although it was harder to find new friendships, get back in the groove of school, and catch up on all we missed we did it. We all came back junior year and made the most of it! Let’s take a look into some of our 2023 students’ personal experiences.

Kevin King stated, “I grew up moving around a lot. I’ve been to four different elementary schools and jr. high in the bay area, before moving to Modesto in eighth grade to attend two more schools. I am forever grateful that I was able to spend all four years at Enochs High School because of the way that it allowed me to truly grow and mature around the same body of students; an unique experience that I was deprived of in my elementary and middle school years. Spending all my high school years with the Enoch’s staff and students showed me love on and off the basketball court. But especially on — when students and fans packed our gym out for homecoming games and senior night.” 

 Augustine Manzano also said, “My time at Enochs I feel has been a very good one overall. There’s been a lot of things I’ve learned during these four years. Almost all of them are life lessons. A lot of up and down moments, however I feel that the ups outweigh the downs significantly.”

 An anonymous student states, “I didn’t have the best high school experience, and as sad as it sounds it is true. I think Covid really put a dent in it but even after Covid, I didn’t have the best of friends along with struggling in school, especially math and science. The teachers were pretty nice but overall not having great friends really overtook my high school experience, especially when it came to events I missed out on. It feels as though everyone else had a great experience while I didn’t.”

 Overall looking at these personal experiences, I would like to encourage the whole class of 2023 that no matter what kind of experience you had, you have a whole life ahead of you so make it worthwhile. Whatever you decide to do, make sure you’re doing what makes you happy. Good job Eagles!