Features

Through Our Eyes: WHS Students Reflect On a Year That Changed Everything

ARI KASER, LIZ GROMOFSKY, and CHLOE PORTER • April 1, 2021

BY ARI KASER, LIZ GROMOFSKY AND CHLOE PORTER

Being a teenager living through the pandemic has been tough; from having things constantly cancelled to not being able to see the outside world, the pandemic has forever changed the lives of today’s teenagers.

Wadsworth High School students submitted poetry, writing responses, photographs and artwork that all portray how they felt at the beginning of it all as well as their feelings as the pandemic progressed. This is a collective visual of how teenage art styles, perspectives and emotions have all been affected by the COVID-19. The Bruin based this idea off of a New York Times article that asked similar questions to teenagers across the United States.

These responses, abstract and realistic, document what it has been like for the teenagers of Wadsworth to live through this historic year.

Some of the thoughts behind the drawing was definitely the loneliness and the lack of freedom I had during quarantine. I believe that the lack of ability to do the things we used to be able do made us appreciate the normal, boring things. The pandemic didn’t change my art style, but I have definitely had more time to practice. *BY JOSEFINE SUNSEN*, SENIOR

**The gray scale represents the blurred excitement of a teenagers life and now rather emphasizing on the negative “clouds” of problems that are following us as students.** *BY SOPHIA ANDERSON, SENIOR*

**The pandemic has forced me to spend so much time with myself, and since I’ve basically had nothing but time to dive into my brain***. BY SKYLAR BARNETT, JUNIOR*

This [the pandemic] was something I wasn’t as used to, and it caused a lot of stress and put a toll on my mental health. The hands represent all of the obstacles I have faced this year but the bright colors seeping from the top of the paper symbolize change and growth. *BY ANNE WEST, SOPHOMORE*

This year I feel ruined my life. Just from sitting in my house think of all the bad things that could happen in this world. All the chaos. This is based off of the song “Drivers License” by Olivia Rodrigo. *BY EMILEE PATTERSON, SOPHOMORE*

I made this piece at the beginning of quarantine about a week after I found out we would no longer be returning to school. They have severe dark circles. I added that as I found my sleep schedule failing during that time with me staying up until the early hours of the morning yet getting up at 8 to do school. *BY ANNA MAAG, SOPHOMORE*

I tried to show in my artwork how everybody is trying to experience things they enjoy, even with the new rules put in place because of the COVID-19. I have things I enjoy in front, with a COVID-19 related theme in the background. BY ARIK PACKER, SOPHOMORE

This is a picture of a note one of my friends dropped off at my house while we were locked down. We weren’t allowed to see each other, but she still made the effort to make sure all of her friends knew how much she cared about them. BY KARYSSA STEDMAN, SOPHOMORE

I wanted to convey how our interactions have been affected by COVID-19. My goal was to show the barrier that has developed between people and physical relationships in general. While I know physical relationships have been obviously limited this past year, I think there was already a strain in physicality developing before COVID-19. *BY SKYLAR BARNETT, JUNIOR*

2020 was quite full of events, thought I didn’t have much issue with the virus because I was in Columbia, a lot of things ended. 2020 has truly been a wild year with many learning from the events that took place. *BY LUNA WILLIAMS, SOPHOMORE*

In March 2020, the Winter Guard season was cut short and I didn’t know if we would get a summer season. I can remember the day that I found out there was a 2020 season and how much joy I felt as I ran to my mother to tell her the news. Even though we had to be distanced and wear masks that were incredibly hot, we were able to get together and have a wonderful and fun fall season. So many memories, such as the one here, were created last season that I wouldn’t trade for anything. *BY MELODY JOHNSON, SOPHOMORE*

It was the first time we have really thought about how the holidays are going to be this year. I got quarantined the week of Thanksgiving, so my family could not have family over. This Thanksgiving was like no other Thanksgiving, but in a bad way. *BY COURTNEY FRENO, SOPHOMORE*

Life was boring; everyday was monotonous. As we sat there waiting for the food to be delivered, my sister and I decided to play a game of who could take a better photo. This photo captures what a lot of quarantine was for me. A lot of quarantine was spent sitting in cars or sitting in my house while waiting for food or playing video games. This photo is gray for a reason. It’s not because I thought the black & white filter looked cool, but because the gray-ness of it perfectly describes the one word I feel about that part of 2020: bland. *BY LUKE HOUSER*, SOPHOMORE

In this cartoon it shows the famous Iwo Jima flag raise. Instead of soldiers they have healthcare workers who are the soldiers of this pandemic. Iwo Jima was the turning point of the war just like the vaccine is the turning point of this pandemic. *BY SEAN HIBBARD, SOPHOMORE*

We can’t go anywhere without them, so I feel like it explains a lot about what quarantine and COVID-19 has done to everyone because it shows how these things we thought we would never need is the new normal. *BY ELAIN MILLER, SOPHOMORE*

I centered the whole piece around my house, obviously because we were in lockdown but all the other added pieces kind of showed what I occupied my time with. However, the days and nights began to feel meshed later in lockdown and I wanted to get out. *BY CRISTINA CHEN*, SOPHOMORE

**The pandemic definitely gave me ore time to be more creative, and was also a bridge to new ideas, like sketching out a person with a mask on.** *BY SOLOMAN CALLAGHAN*, SOPHOMORE

**This piece symbolizes the way the past year has affected me. The pandemic has been stressful at times, but it has given me lots of opportunities as an artist.** *CARYS HAUGHN, FRESHMAN*

Donate to The Bruin

Your donation will support the student journalists of Wadsworth High School. Your contribution will allow us to purchase equipment and cover our annual website hosting costs.