​Five years ago, in the St. Mary’s gymnasium, Jenni Ogasian was introduced to her future. As stage manager of the school’s theater group, she was given her first taste of working behind the scenes of a production, foreshadowing the career path she would follow.

For the past six months, coronavirus has halted the movie theater industry nationwide. On that fateful day back in mid-March, the world ironically felt like a cliched plot taken from an apocalyptic Hollywood movie.

For many, 2020 has been quite difficult, discouraging and seemingly never-ending. Classes have been held in person for students who prefer to be in the building with strict and important protocols set in place to ensure the health of all students and faculty, such as wearing masks, social distancing, and hand sanitizing.

In these tough times, our country feels more divided than ever, and simple scientific facts seem to be up for debate. During this global pandemic, the president of the United States is one of the prominent figures that has consistently criticized scientists’ opinions on the severity of the coronavirus and the precautions that need to be taken to counteract it. This discourse over factual information poses the question of why has science become so political?

2020 has been a rollercoaster of emotions, to say the least. From a national pandemic to social unrest and police brutality to one of the most important elections in history, people have been through a lot

For the Class of 2021, the path to college has been blurred by the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic. Cancelled SATs, virtual college tours and remote learning have given this year’s seniors a historic label — the class navigating the college application process through a global pandemic.

To say 2020 has swept us off our feet would be an understatement. This year has been filled with endless surprises, numerous deaths and students facing reoccurring battles such as homework and online school.

In the past year racial injustice in America has yet again taken center stage after the deaths of several unarmed Black people. With the presidential election as a backdrop, race-fueled tension  gained even more prevalence in politics. Yet, this is not something America is unfamiliar with; our country has a very obvious history of division. Race has played a major role in separating people in the United States ever since 1619, when the first slaves landed here. Within the last 50 years, American still hasn’t seen a great enough change in which the Black community has felt completely safe, never mind equal.

St. Mary’s is currently the only high school in Lynn with full-time, in-person learning. Despite the fact that the city is a red zone, the school has managed to stay open much longer than many have expected.