01945 Fall 2021

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This schedule addition is already
a hot topic among students and will
certainly provide a fun aspect to our
weekly routine. Furthermore, students will
still enjoy great traditions at MHS like
watching our friends play on Piper Field
and performing in drama productions,
just to name a few. In all, there will be
no shortage of fun ways for students
to immerse ourselves in the school
Madison Lofmark
In an almost picturesque horror movie
spectacular, on March 13, 2020 (a Friday),
my parents and the rest of the families
in the Marblehead school district got a
phone call that we would take a brief twoweek
break to evaluate the extent to which
COVID-19 needed to be contained.
Five-hundred and forty-three days
later, and here I am: kicking off the senior
year with one year of finals under my
belt and an obnoxiously large hole in the
center of my high school experience.
One of my best friends graduated
last year during the chaos, and in terms
of fears for the upcoming school year
(according to her), entertaining a few
makes a bit of sense. Having already been
robbed of a sophomore semi formal and
junior prom, the fear that we will also
lose out on senior prom and graduation
is ever-present. How many “high school”
experiences have I lost to this sickness?
How many lunches surrounded by the
friends I grew up with — cheeks full to
the brim with laughter and Ritz crackers
— slipped through the cracks? When my
children ask with bright eyes about my
best high school memories, how many
more could I have had to share with
them?
Growing up, I always looked forward
community, and I am very excited to be a
part of these great experiences.
Overall, I am confident that the
students of Marblehead High are
ready for a great year. Despite the
looming circumstances of COVID-19,
this year promises to be one full of
accomplishments and memories. I am
hopeful that when my class graduates in
June we can look back and say that we
to high school, and though I have no
siblings of my own, family photos of
cousins at dances and proms filled my
head with excitement. What kind of
person would I become?
I feel now, as we begin to crawl on our
hands and knees back to normalcy, that I
mourn the loss of who that person might
have been. Lockdown changed me in ways
I know for certain a normal year wouldn’t
have if I hadn’t been stuck alone with my
thoughts for months with nothing to stare
at but a screen. And though I know it was
necessary, and uphold that we should have
even done more, the question of who I
could have been sits at the top of my mind
like oil on water.
All of this aside, I do have hope for
this school year. So far, there have been
no troubles except for masks, which do
happen to be especially uncomfortable in
the malignant humidity of the third-floor
English classrooms. If all goes well, those
will be gone by the end of November.
One thing I noticed in particular is
that teachers are different. I feel as though
they will never really be the same, either.
This is not a bad thing. On the contrary,
I find them to be more lenient with due
dates, conscious about our mental health,
and far more willing to treat us as true
made the most of this school year. Until
then, I can’t wait to return to pencils
instead of Zoom, class meetings instead
of email reminders, and most of all, being
together again.
Go Magicians!
Ben Kahn is a Marblehead High School
senior. He is class treasurer, involved with
DECA and Spanish Honor Society, and he is
co-captain of the indoor track team.
individuals as opposed to just students.
It’s as though by dividing us for so long
through a screen, by the time we were
back in the classroom the whole school
population — teachers and students alike
— were immediately closer than ever. It’s
for these reasons that I predict a better
quality of education and overall happier
school environment this year than ever
before.
Nevertheless, the threat of the Delta
variant shadows over our every move —
an echo on the tile and the rustle of the
trees. COVID made my friends and me
stronger, but it’s not something I think
we can weather again. The isolation
tugged down like cement blocks around
our ankles, and it will take years to untie
the rope. With the help of my teachers,
friends, and family, I really do believe in a
strong, positive school year. After all that
we’ve been through together, throwing
that black-stringed cap into the air in
the spring will be all that much more
meaningful.
So, how long really is two weeks? In
terms of a global pandemic, approximately
543 days.
Madison Lofmark is a Marblehead High
School senior and an aspiring writer.
Talia Schwartz
My freshman year of high school, we
got an extra two weeks of vacation at
the end of March prior to our normallyscheduled
April vacation. However, the
members of the class of ‘23 are now
juniors, which is genuinely unbelievable.
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected
everyone worldwide, and many may
consider my class lucky as we didn’t miss
nearly as many milestones as some other
grades. The class of 2020 didn’t enjoy
senior prom or graduation, ‘21 received
an unpredictable last year with shifting
schedules, and ‘24 began their highschool
journey wearing masks starting in
October. Many juniors may actually argue
that they appreciated the year (or two)
spent at home, enjoying the late wake-ups
and less stress regarding school work.
Despite the lack of normalcy in the
past few years, many are hopeful for a
better year overall with fewer uncertainties
in the schedules and daily routines.
Besides the continuation of mask usage
and social distancing, the everyday class
schedule seems to have returned to
normal, due to the vaccinated majority at
the high school. This means that students
can finally look forward to enjoying
their time at MHD high. On the other
hand, the upcoming school year is still a
stress-inducing factor for many students
as assignments and tests linger over our
heads.
During the time spent in online
classes, many students managed to