With winter coming to a close, students looked forward to traveling.

Baseball planned a trip to Oklahoma, choir to Tennessee and Intertribal Club to New Mexico. Then the world entered into a global pandemic, forcing schools to shut down and students to remain at home. This doomed all hopeful school trips.

With the cancellation of the entire season, junior baseball player Carlos Vasquez was left looking back at what the season could have been.

“I know we would have done something special this year so there’s always going to be the what if, but it’s out of our control,” Vasquez said.

The baseball team was supposed to travel to Oklahoma for a few days in late March to play in a tournament.

“It’s a good team bonding experience, so I’m pretty bummed we didn’t get to go,” Vasquez said.

The choir trip, a trip that only happens every three years, was supposed to take sophomore, junior and senior singers to Tennessee to sing at venues like the National Civil Rights Museum and Graceland. 

“I’m sad about not being able to visit the places we had planned, and I’m also sad about the amount of work lost,” junior Lili Christensen said. 

Choir students invested up to $900, and had to spend an hour before or after school every Wednesday to practice throughout the past couple of months.

The Intertribal Club’s trip to New Mexico would have taken students to The Gathering of Nations, which is the largest powwow in North America and to visit colleges in the state. 

“Powwows present a sense of pride, community and belonging from Indiginous communities around the country,” said senior and president of Intertribal Club Nick Kennedy.

“I grew up attending pow wows at Haskell since I was around 4 years old,” Kennedy said. “I am disappointed that the powwow did not come to fruition.” 

The club put a lot of effort into fundraising for their trip through taco sales and a GoFundMe. 

However, students still look to a bright future for their activities despite this year’s setbacks. 

“This trip is a starting point for club members next year and beyond,” Kennedy said. “I hope everyone can participate at some level in the future.”

While she may not have a choir trip in high school, Christensen still looks forward to singing next year.

“Choir gives me an outlet for sharing my love of music,” Christensen said.

Vasquez had similar feelings.

“I feel like all of this is bigger than baseball,” Vasquez said. “We’ve just got to be grateful for what we have and look forward to the future.”