This year has been difficult for everyone, but it has especially been an issue for the seniors of 2021. With confusion centering around college applications and whether CollegeBoard will hold any tests, the seniors have truly gotten the short end as students. One of our seniors, Sabrina Ahmed, describes how she’s been spending time during quarantine and recollects some of her favorite classes and teachers. As many of her friends may know, Sabrina enjoys playing volleyball and, in fact, was a player on our varsity volleyball team for her first few years of high school; however, what may not be known is one of her favorite hobbies includes baking.

As we know, the school year is somewhat of a controversy amongst the teachers, parents, students and administration over what the students would be missing out on because of virtual schooling. Sabrina gave us her insight on what she missed most from in-person school. She described how one of her favorite parts of the school year was the dances, especially homecoming, and simply just seeing her friends every single day. Her favorite classes include Rhetoric with Mr. Hansen, mostly because she loves communication and playing volleyball after school. Playing a team such as volleyball allowed Sabrina to grow close with her teammates and work alongside them. She illustrated how she absolutely loved that it promoted teamwork and helped her build friendships with people. Similar to a lot of students, Sabrina has found that not being able to physically see friends and teachers has been a large negative to the quarantine, but she also described the more optimistic side by noting that she has had an increased amount of free time to effectively focus on her college applications and her volunteering.

Baking has always been a hobby that Sabrina loved to participate in, and when she realized she could combine it with volunteering, she decided to put her two joys together and become a member of spaandanB. SpaandanB is an organization that has a range of simple tasks that their volunteers can do in order to give back to the people who need it, such as making masks. Sabrina was originally introduced to this group through some friends in 10th grade and since then she has contributed her baking skills to making cakes for orphans and muffins for the homeless.

“It seems like a very nice way to help people. I already enjoyed baking and I thought that baking for orphans would help support my community,” she explains.

Her role in spaandanB has only increased during quarantine as she has been focusing more on aiding healthcare workers. “I love supporting my community in any way I can through these difficult times.”