After completing middle school and moving two hours away, attending a high school with no familiar faces was the last thing I wanted to do. After my parents told me where we were moving to, the names “Bumpass” and “Mineral” didn’t seem too promising. I was pessimistic about the move, especially leaving all the friends I had made throughout elementary and middle school. 

However, my attitudes towards the move quickly shifted not long after moving to Louisa. I decided to go to summer conditioning for football because I wanted to play in high school. On the very first day of conditioning, during our lunch break, I was greeted by and invited to sit with multiple other players. These kids that greeted me and asked me to eat lunch with them have remained my closest friends for the past four years. Due to the ease of making friends, I understood the hospitality and friendliness of the people here in Louisa County, and my feeling of uncertainty changed to comfort. After a week of living here, I had multiple friends and I really enjoyed living in this small town. 

In tandem with the community, the high school was a pleasant surprise. Walking into a newly built, three story school building with many amenities was exciting as a freshman. I had never seen a high school like this before, and I thought the school was the coolest thing ever. Freshman year was a blast. I loved the experience of being a high school student, and I made countless friends between school, football, and baseball. I had only lived here for less than three months, but I loved it and felt like I had been living here my whole life. 

The excitement from freshman year carried into that summer, and then into the start of tenth grade. Tenth grade started off great, and that continued throughout the first half of the school year. Over the winter, everyone started talking of a  new virus called the Coronavirus, and it became an underlying issue that wasn’t too bothersome to us at school. 

As we all know, that “underlying issue” turned out to be a pretty big deal. On Friday, March 13th, we all received a letter from the school informing us that we were going to be shutting the school down for two weeks due to the rising COVID cases. An early Spring Break! I remember my friends and I being excited for the two weeks off, as all high school students are when there’s no school. 

But then two weeks out of school turned into four weeks, then two months, and then three months. We all started to realize that school was over for good, and I wasn’t too excited. I enjoyed school. My teachers were great, and I enjoyed seeing my friends everyday. After only a year and a half, I was fearful that my high school experience would be cut short due to the pandemic. 

Junior year was an interesting change, but I was happy just to be back in the school building, even if it was only two days a week. The whole year was pretty rough, dealing with all the restrictions from the pandemic, and not being able to see my friends as much. Junior year was an obstacle, and it was easy for nobody, but I made it through and was excited for my last year of high school. 

I am almost certain that my senior year started two months ago. We all were told that our senior year would fly right past us, and it definitely did. It was nice to have a complete and normal year of high school again, since we hadn’t had one since freshman year. Funny enough, it felt unusual to eat lunch in the cafeteria in large groups, which was the norm until 2020. I had an amazing time playing my senior season of football, cheerleading for powderpuff, going to Homecoming and Prom, and losing to the teachers in a basketball game. It was truly a great year, I just wish it had lasted a little longer. 

As I move once again, this time five hours away to Pittsburgh, I will always remember the memories I made at this school and in this community. Louisa is truly a special place, and I have loved my time here. I will miss playing under the Friday night lights, all of my great teachers, and walking 10 miles from the gym to the third floor for class. It has been an experience unlike any other.