Dear Underclassmen,

We all grew up hearing that high school would be the best years of our lives. It would be so fun and we would learn so much and make so many memories. At some points, it would be hard and emotional and feel never ending. We heard a lot of things but no one ever told us the last two and a half months of our senior year would be cancelled because of a world wide pandemic.

Most of us probably had a lot of days where we didn’t want to go to school or left early because we just needed a break, but now we’re all sitting at home wishing we could have a few more moments on campus. There are things we all took for granted, myself included.

Santa Margarita gave me the best years and memories of my life, and there are so many things we all wish we could do again. Eat some chocolate pancakes from Sapphire in the morning, get out of breath going up the G3 stairs, or sprint to the back lot to beat the traffic at the end of the day. The list of things we miss and won’t get to do again is endless, but this has also led to us reflecting on our time at SM.

Make the most of your high school experience. Go to a football game if you haven’t yet and get there early so you can sit front row. Stop by camp min and listen to Mr. B blast Justin Bieber Christmas music year round. Spend time with your friends and say hi to the people you don’t know yet because they could turn into your favorite people. Get a breakfast burrito in the morning even though they make the room smell. Take advantage of all the small opportunities SM gives you, and don’t disregard the big ones.

It used to be annoying to get up before the sun, and get home when it was already dark, to do homework that seemed irrelevant and study for tests until two in the morning, but school is so much more than that. It’s the moments in the parking lot before school, or the short conversations during passing period, and the classes that you catch yourself enjoying even though you’re supposed to think school is lame. It’s the dances, lunches, the retreats and everything in between that make high school worth it.

So take some time and think about your time at SM so far, find the things that make you happy, and when we go back in the fall don’t let these little moments pass you by. And when you get to senior year, and you have your last first day, smile because you have so much to look forward to. Care less about what people think or being popular, and surround yourself with people who make you happy. Go to every event and game because once there aren’t any left I promise you will wish you had. At the end of the day, we are blessed to go to a school like Santa Margarita, and it can be the best experience of your life if you want it to be.

I will forever be grateful for my time at SM, and I hope you all finish high school feeling the same way. I hope you’re all happy and healthy, and I can’t wait for you all to be back on campus in the fall.