With Thanksgiving quickly approaching, finding things to be grateful for is important to stay positive and keep an optimistic outlook on everyday life. This year has presented many challenges and obstacles that have been unknown in previous years. The little things that make us smile is something we can reflect on during this time of the year. The Manitou Springs High School student body took this opportunity to share just some of the many things they find themselves thankful for during the first semester of the 2020-2021 school year.

Let’s be honest: first semester really sucked this year. Yet throughout all the confusion, the struggles, and obstacles, the students of Manitou Springs High School still found the things that they are grateful for. One Mustang said, “I am grateful for family for friends,” however, many expressed the same thankfulness. To some surprise, students have shown their thankfulness of being able to actually go back to school in person, even if it had to come to a halt. For example, one mustang had this to share,  “I have been grateful every day after school when I realize how fun school is,” and another said, “I am grateful for Manitou’s wonderful teachers.” The thankfulness extends outside of school, to family life and work. “I am grateful for my parents and how they have been so supportive throughout this troubling year,”  another Mustang shared, “I am grateful for my work and being so willing to give me shifts even though they could have given them to others.”

Over the past several weeks, many students were quarantined.  Quarantine has affected a large percentage of the student body, and students are feeling discouraged, isolated, and lonely.  But, Mustangs are trying to stay connected.  One student’s plans were foiled by a sudden quarantine.  She “couldn’t leave the house,” but her friends were determined to make sure the night they planned still went on: “They dropped off some take-out Chinese food at my door, and we ate and watched a movie together while FaceTiming. I was so grateful for their friendship that night and their determination to make sure I didn’t feel isolated while in isolation.”  Overall, students are finding ways to get through these trying times.  Despite the challenges the pandemic has brought, many students have tried to find ways to be hopeful. “I’m grateful for the opportunities that this pandemic has opened up for me,” one student said,  “It has given me a chance to get in touch with my inner self and figure a lot of things out.”

In many years prior, finding things to be thankful for has been easier. Although this year has been a struggle for many to say the least it is possibly more important than ever to feel gratitude. Many students have found the good amidst the bad. Being grateful is important especially now when so many things are constantly changing and nothing is guaranteed.

The words of this Mustang speak for themselves:  “I’m grateful for the little things that COVID can’t take from us. I’m grateful for basking outside in the sun, for playing frisbee with my dog and the gleam in his eyes as he persuades me to chase him. I’m grateful for ink pens and caramel-filled chocolate and ivy crawling up a brick wall, for spending a lazy Saturday ambling around the living room in a pair of argyle socks, for losing myself in a book and leaving hours later in a daze. I’m grateful that we’ve been pushed to be more creative, to take up new hobbies and learn new things. I’m grateful that we live in a time with such advanced technology, where we have the right medicine to treat disease and we can see the faces of the people we love, no matter how far away they are. I’m grateful that less people are spitting exhaust into the atmosphere and our planet is starting to recover. I’m grateful for my friends, my family, my teachers, the blessing of being alive. Most of all, I’m grateful that we’ve made it through this so far, and that we’ll keep struggling onward and keep supporting each other until the day we can finally cross that six-foot line.”