Two stories: ***Opinion pieces reflect the opinion of the writer only, and not the opinion of the newspaper staff, student body, administration or school faculty.***

Story by Samantha Faul

Editor-n-Chief

Due to the rapid spread of the Coronavirus, known as COVID-19, many states have shut down businesses and schools until at least the first week of April. That means students from all grade levels are now home for an extended period of time to slow the spread of COVID-19.

Last week, I was prom shopping, making Pinterest boards of hair and nail ideas, and fantasizing about the perfect ending to a good school year. Spring break was the week-long break I needed… that is until one week turned to three, then to four. I believe the proper term for what’s going on lately is “Coronacation.”

 I remember telling everyone that my senior year was going to be memorable. I wanted the generic high school experience, one that comes straight out of a Disney movie- minus the spontaneous singalongs.  I thought “memorable” meant Friday night football games, participating in spirit days, and attending prom. 

So far, this school year has been anything but average. The 19-20 school year started with a tragedy in our community, though it was extremely heartwrenching, it brought everyone closer together. I thought that would be the craziest part of my year. Here we are, five days into Coronacation, going stir crazy. 

By the time ECISD is supposedly set to return to school, the students will have been out of school for almost a month. It’s not so much the school work I’m worried about, I think that the teachers and faculty are trying their absolute best to get all of us back on track, even if we are learning from home. 

Honestly, I feel robbed of my senior year. There’s talk of prom being canceled, and if ECISD follows behind many other districts, we’ve experienced our last days of high school. Many members of the 2020 class have expressed their opinions on twitter about the shutdown. 

“Okay,  jokes over… I want my senior year back,” @Aj_Curry17, via Twitter. 

Along with the fear of losing the final days of high school, many students’ jobs have been closed for an undetermined amount of time due to COVID-19.

This shutdown has caused mixed emotions. I, along with others, would rather be safe than sorry. However, I’m not ready to close this chapter of my life yet. Keep practicing social distancing, wash your hands frequently, stop hoarding the toilet paper, and remember that nothing about this school year is confirmed yet. We are still set to go back in April. 

“In the end, it will be impossible to know if we overreacted or did too much, but it will be QUITE apparent if we under reacted or did too little,” @Coach_Nick87, via twitter. 

Story  by Joshua Garcia

Sports Editor

Covid-19, known as The Corona Virus, is a sickness that has taken over the world at virtually no end. For those that have been living under a rock, Covid-19 is a virus that causes illness ranging from the common cold to severe respiratory diseases. It is spread from one person to another through coughing and sneezing. I also strongly feel that though a serious pandemic it really has been blown up by the media in drastic measures.

The Corona Virus is also the cause of the shutdown of Major Sports leagues such as MLB, NBA, NHL, and the MLS. This has also forced the NCAA to cancel all Winter and Spring sports and leaves the question if the athletes will get that season eligibility back? For me, that is a terrible situation because if I am not running or at church I am often watching anything to do with sports. So that has been a huge change as I have started playing the XBOX a lot more.

However, there are two places where this has affected me the greatest and I am not happy about it at all. Coronavirus put an end to my senior track season and is the reason why my season ended prematurely. Even though I haven’t been competing to the best of my ability due to the injury in my lower back I still would’ve liked for it to end on my own terms. Another, it forced the Catholic church to revert in-person mass to a Livestream and receive the teachings from our homes. For me, mass is the most important part of my week and I don’t like that I can’t attend it.

So I feel the country failed to take it seriously until it actually hit our home. The routines that people are used to are no more, at least for now. It has caused many people to go into outrage and stock up in toilet paper. It has also caused many of us to be afraid and forced us to quarantine into our homes.