Student athletes carry a particular burden this school year. The situation we find ourselves in as regular students is already tough, but being a student athlete adds another layer to that.

Learning online has taken a toll on all of us and tremendously affected the lives of tons of student athletes, who’ve poured their hearts and souls into their sports throughout their high school years.

As someone who is a part of the dance team at Mead High School and has contributed mass amounts of time and effort to the art, it brings about the unfortunate and overpowering sense of defeat as we watch our year slowly start to fade away.

Being a part of a team allows student athletes to dedicate their time and efforts into something that they love and feel passionate about. Watching the year go by and seeing that we are unable to join with our teammates and participate in practices are much more difficult than many may think.

Being unable to visit friends or take part in the extracurricular activities and forcing yourself to find the positivity in such a negative scenario have become very exhausting tasks that overwhelm our minds. As a senior student athlete, it’s understandable that many of us have worked hard to get to where we are and the positions we’ve obtained, whether it’s captain, co-captain, or even just being accepted onto a team. It feels as though this year’s diligence has no way of truly paying off.

Seeing as though many rely on playing sports to receive scholarships and financial aid to further their education beyond high school, it’s truly saddening how students are unable to support their teams in the sidelines because so many of the events are being canceled and shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The time, money, and potential put into each sport have left many student athletes feeling lost and in a state of disbelief over what this year has brought about. The opportunities to meet new people, learn new tasks, be part of a team, and really improve our skills as athletes feel missing from our high school experience.

As seniors, the cancellation of sports teams and games is causing our mental stability to slip into unbearable conditions and creating negative mindsets during our last year of high school, which is meant to be the best times of our lives.

Kissing the seasons goodbye and understanding that our senior year is coming to a halt is truly degrading when looking at how far we’ve come and how hard we’ve worked throughout our high school years. Not only are seasons being left unfinished, but they are also being ripped away from us, leaving the sense of discouragement over many student athletes who’ve looked forward to a winning season — a season that seniors won’t be able to get back.