As Thanksgiving came to an end, Harrisites reflected on what they felt grateful for this Thanksgiving amidst the pandemic, endless Zoom calls, and a lack of social interaction.

Harrisites are thankful…

• For friends:

1. 1. “For the people around me that keep me sane.” – Senior Derrick Chia
   2. “For my friends because they give me all my energy when school literally sucks the soul out of me.” – Sophomore Sean Zhou
   3. “For that friend that that shares my pain whenever I make a dumb mistake on a math test.” – Senior Angela Zhu

• For family and home life:

1. 1. “For my heater during these cold times.” – Senior Isabel Xu
   2. “That I can now spend what would normally be my morning commute time exercising with my husband.  I am grateful being able to (face-time) read to my grandchildren.” – Assistant Principal Susan Brustein
   3. “For my beautiful daughter, Avery, and our crazy little dog, Daisy.” – Teacher Jaime Baranoff
   4. “For my family. It has been difficult not being able to hug one another or spend time together but it has made me appreciate  them even more… I am thankful that when this is all over, I will be able to see the smiling faces of all the students because I really miss all of you.” – Teacher Santos Myra
   5. “For Instacart.” – Teacher Brian Brewer
   6. “[That] I was able to convince my dad to get a cat.” – Senior Odalys Nunez
   7. “For being able to spend more time with my family, even if they annoy me to death at times…It’s become a common occurrence that [once I] I unmute myself, either my siblings or my parents barge into the room as if I’m not currently in class!…Regardless, the pandemic has made me thankful for being able to spend more time with them.” – Freshman Rachel Chan

• For changing school norms:

1. 1. “That I don’t have to carry a 20 pound backpack on my way to school everyday.” – Freshman Ann Hsieh
   2. “For being able to stay in pj’s all day long.” – Senior Aliyah Ghany 
   3. “For teachers who understand the pandemic stress and cut students slack to try to make the students’ days better.” – Sophomore Afsana Ferdous
   4. “For my wonderful ever so functional WiFi that only crashes once every 5 minutes.” – Senior Xu Dong
   5. “For blasting music between classes.” – Sophomore Kristen Song
   6. “For actually surviving this year, getting into Townsend, and my Six of Crows birthday gift because it was an awesome read. I’m thankful for getting closer to my best best friend and for… remaining… close to loved ones in such trying times.” – Freshman Sadeea Morshed
   7. “For taking naps in my bed during my free periods.” – Junior Colin Bobocea
   8. “For not needing to wake up an hour early before school for transportation. I can simply wake up a couple minutes before class and turn on zoom which is very convenient.” – Junior Sophia Park

• For hobbies and leisure activities:

1. 1. “For the walks I take at the park. It’s very orange and yellow and crunchy and breezy.” – Senior Valeriya Shin
   2. “For my Netflix subscription. The new seasons of American Horror Story and The Crown are what are keeping me sane.” – Junior Julia Maciejak
   3. “For all the late night Among Us games with my friends.” – Senior Michael Kim 
   4. “For the key elements to life and happiness: my friends who send me funny texts and TikToks, my family who makes delicious meals and has wholesome dinner conversations, and the internet for giving me hours of entertainment and binge-worthy shows.” – Senior Jasmine Chang 

Next up: The Holidays!