Going into my freshman year, I thought “I can’t wait to do what the seniors do.” They drive to school; they know everyone and everyone likes them. I always thought they had nothing to worry about, but now that I’m here I realize it wasn’t as simple as that.


I’ve realized not everyone is going to like you. You aren’t always going to be prom queen. You aren’t going to want to rush home after school to work for gas to drive to school like you always wanted. But luckily, unlike some kids, some of us don’t have to work for everything we have.


Society is much different than it used to be. And for some, it’s probably really hard. At the age of 17 for me, it has been full of so many different things — babysitting, keeping up with school and just trying to help everyone the best way possible.

My dad had to move to Pikeville for work, and if you’re a coal miner’s kid you know how hard things can get and the struggle. You watch your parents do the best they can, through the good and bad times. Watching your parents struggle is a hard thing to do, especially when you want nothing but happiness for them.


The one thing all of the 17-year-olds can agree on this year is how covid affected all our lives. We lost opportunities to attend school. We couldn’t do the things we would usually do, like extra-curricular activities or hanging out all summer. And for all of us, I can say that it was mentally draining.

Corona, in general, affected everyone around the world differently. — from losing family members and friends, to not being able to go out places. It started my sophomore year, and it’s crazy to say that we’re still here in our senior year.

Doing work online was a loss of education for me. From always being taught hands on before to going to a computer screen wasn’t the same.


But after all of that, I’m grateful to be here at 17. Through all the good and bad things. I think we all just expected it to be how it was in the movies. I realized life is full of curveballs getting thrown at you, and things you wish would’ve never happened, like losing opportunities because of a pandemic or feeling less than what you are, have become reality.


Life has been full of love and laughter, and yes, even hurt. But if you think about it, happiness is just perception. If you wanted to be happy, you could be. You make things the way you want it to be and we have to keep doing the best we can until we can find normal again.


(Hannah Day is a senior at Harlan County High School and a student in John Henson’s English/writing class)