With the chaos that is, including but not limited to a global pandemic, many high school students are experiencing FOMO (fear of missing out) and rightfully so. Self isolating means missing everything that distance learning cannot give us.

Junior Adrienne Soriano said, “I would say it’s a lot harder to not have FOMO than it is to have it. People are meant to be social, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s safe to go back.” 

No matter how many experiences that we miss in this situation we are put into, we have to think about the bigger picture. Rather than thinking about how it’s specifically affecting us. Although we continue to miss out on a lot of experiences, it is not worth sacrificing the safety and health of not only ourselves, but others as well. 

“Ever since the pandemic has started, I’ve been stuck at home and only go out to buy groceries or run errands,” senior Nghi Vu said. “Some of my friends have started going out again, but I am not allowed to because I have high-risk family members at home. It sucks knowing that many of my friends are hanging out without me, and I feel very left out. I know it’s for the better, but it still makes me feel excluded from my friend group because I’m missing out.”

Although we’re still in the midst of a global pandemic, some of us decide if we take proper precautions (or not) to break quarantine in order to socialize, but a lot of us can’t due to themselves or family members being high-risk.

Senior Violet Xiloj said, “Oh yeah, especially being an early grad I know I’m not going to have any of those rites of passage and it’s definitely upsetting knowing that the dances and games are never going to happen again.”

Almost everyone in high school, specifically seniors, are losing memories that can never be made up. The pandemic has robbed us of Homecoming, other dances, football games, senior trips, and being around our friends. However, there’s always a silver lining, which is that we are all experiencing the same thing! You could say that experiencing FOMO means that you’re not actually missing out on anything.