With less than ten days left of school, members of the class of 2021 are closing their high school chapter with senior treats, La tour de Xavier, and other graduation festivities. Although these past four years seem to have flown by, they were filled with sports events, dances, rallies and social media trends.

It all started in 2017, which was a year of change. A transfer of power took place in the winter of that year when President Donald Trump took office after President Barack Obama. While this happened, the class of 2021 looked forward to starting their freshman year of high school. They were first met with the tropical-themed Frosh Mixer, an event held between Brophy and Xavier.

Also in 2017, the beloved app TikTok was still known in its different, less popular form: Musical.ly. 

The then-freshmen were then introduced to Xavier’s iconic rallies. The idea of the different classes all uniting yet still competing against each other in dance competitions was an exciting concept, and something the class of 2021 would continue to look forward to. Nataly Oviatt ‘21, described the event, saying, “They were really fun; there’s a lot going on.” A lot has always gone on at rallies with the gymnasium always full of freshmen wearing pink, sophomores wearing yellow, juniors wearing green and seniors wearing red. In 2017, the then freshmen were all pink.

When looking back on the past four years, Anna Leone ‘21 said she remembers “Our three homecomings,” which were also dance events held between Brophy and Xavier. Our first homecoming was decade-themed, with students dressing in 70s, 80s, 90s, and ‘00s attire. Little did the class of 2021 know that in 2021, 2000s style would make a comeback.

Other fun events that would occur at Xavier in the following three years were Spirit Weeks, winter formals and sports events. Ever since the first spirit week, the class of 2021 always looked forward to the one day where they could take on the persona of a Brophy boy with pride. Winter formals held at Xavier were always beautiful events where the girls always dressed in formal dresses that resembled ball gowns. Sports events were always fun, especially when they were state championships.

During the 2018-2019 school year, many of the girls received their driver’s licenses. Qiliana Garcia ‘21, said one of the things she will remember when looking back on these past four years was “rushing to your car on Friday after school.” 

At this time, VSCO girls took the campus by storm, with many students carrying around Lululemon bags in one hand, their Hydro Flasks and car keys in the other, accompanied by scrunchies around their wrists, and Fjallraven backpacks on their backs. For all the teachers who did not know what this whole get-up was called, well, now you know. Oviatt also looked back on “the new white shoe every year,” which there was. At this very moment, the white Nike Air Force One is the shoe to have.

These fun events students looked forward to came to a halt in the spring of 2020, when the Coronavirus Pandemic practically shut the world down; however, the trends persisted, even online.

With online school in full swing by April, the ‘alt phase’ was in full effect. It was common to see girls donning the ‘2 piece bleached hair’ trend or ‘pink hair’ on Google Meets, Zoom calls, or Snapchat stories. TikTok was resurrected during quarantine due to people not having much to do.

By the time school started back up, things looked different. Masses and rallies have been held relatively virtually all school year, and sports “events” as well as school dances have been rare.One event that happened this year for the class of 2021 was the Senior Fashion show, which took place in March. Kairos, a retreat that disconnects students with the outside world in order to focus on faith, has also been a moving experience to take place this year for seniors. Garcia said she “tapped more into Xavier’s community after Kairos.” 

With these past four years coming to a close, things look incredibly different. Entering into 2021, Joe Biden became the 46th President, the world is just starting to reopen after Covid-19 and social media is more relevant in people’s lives than ever before. At Xavier, students are either attending school virtually or in-person, and the class of 2021 will be having graduation in-person and each graduate is allowed to have two people at graduation. If the class of 2021 learned anything from these past four years, it can be summed up by Oviatt: “Go to everything you can, in case there’s a pandemic!”