As the president of the Gonzaga student government for the 2020-21 school year, I have had an inside look at the student body and the “pulse” on campus. This year has obviously been a trying time for everyone at school and at home. Students were only allowed to come back to campus in October of 2020. Everyone has been uniquely affected by the changes in our world this year.
For teachers, the struggle was to find a way to work from home or virtually and alter every lesson for this academic year; for students, the struggle was to find motivation and drive to not just give up on school and their community. A dedicated group of students, including SGA representatives, started meeting in May to find ways to keep their community alive in these times.
For me, this year has been personal. Every single event or project that we have accomplished I have been proud of. This year started off very slow and depressing. It turned into a year of joy and appreciation for the school and community that we have on Eye Street. Gonzaga is unlike any school I have ever seen. Every member of the community wants you to succeed and is in your corner. This has been my experience of this year, and I have gotten to know the people who make the day to day happen at Gonzaga.
Members of the class of 2021, myself included, considered it their job to do something about returning Gonzaga to normality. Such strides included three Gonzagafests, a prom and various on-campus events for students to interact with their brothers and community as a whole.
“I feel that Gonzaga has started to return to what it used to be,” said Will Scherer, senior.
Adults on campus, including Ms. Caitlin Farley, science teacher and SGA moderator, would not have let this year go without celebrating our home on Eye Street; events like Gonzagafest and the senior social would not have been possible without her help and leadership.
When seniors leave Eye Street for the final time as students on June 6, it will be a bittersweet day. Seniors will remember the hard work they did to make this year the best they could even while the odds were stacked against them for over a year.