Reflection Series: Joseph Nowak ’20
With the CBA campus closed due to the worldwide coronavirus outbreak, students have been encouraged to submit their thoughts on this unexpected development in the school year.
Here is a submission from Joseph Nowak ’20.
After celebrating Easter Sunday, I realize that I would normally be looking forward to the last two weeks of my senior year and then all the great stuff that follows: college committal, prom, and graduation. Sadly, this year’s unconventional nature has possibly prevented the latter two events from happening. With this in mind, I implore the juniors, sophomores, and freshmen to take to heart the idea of enjoying your time at the Academy.
As a senior, I have had plenty of experience sitting through third period on a Monday and wondering when the week was going to be over. Naturally, I could not wait to enjoy the weekend hanging with friends and playing sports. However, this period of quarantine has taught me that we always yearn for what we do not have. I have observed plenty of people who just want things to go back to what they were like before COVID – people who used to complain about the dreariness of their offices now cannot wait to return.
Students like us are similar in that regard, but why? It is because of the brotherhood fostered by CBA. We all have had our fair share of dreary days that seemed to last an eternity, yet that has not defined our experience at the Academy. CBA is not just about the academics, it is about the brotherhood that we share with one another. This brotherhood creates strong friendships and relations that last a lifetime. This very concept is proven by our time apart: we miss our friends from school.
Thus, for the underclassmen, I hope you will focus on the time that you spend with your friends AT the Academy, not just the time outside of it. Remember this feeling you have right now – how much you want to be at school since that is where your friends are – the next time you are surviving third period on a Monday. Cherish the memories that your time at CBA will form and never take for granted the time that you have to enjoy with your brothers since strange times like these can prevent you from being with them.
For the seniors, I understand that this is not at all the way we wanted our time at CBA to end. It is disheartening to think that our four years of hard work and camaraderie may fail to culminate in our walking across the stage at graduation. However, this disappointment will enable us to make the most of our college years. Although college in itself is an experience that we all look forward to, our graduation will be the climax of our entire academic career and will mean that much more.
In these uncertain times, it is hope that keeps us going – hope that one day we will return to the school that we love and be with our friends. It is my hope that these times will teach us all to enjoy our time at the Academy – from third period on a Monday to walking across the stage at Graduation.
Joseph Nowak ’20
