Ali, a friend of a DSST Montview High School parent (aka, my mom’s friend), was in the path of totality for the solar eclipse on April 8th, 2024. Ali was located in Kerrville, TX where she could attend an eclipse festival at Louise Hayes Park on the Guadalupe River. NASA was said to have been holding presentations and broadcasting from the park for the eclipse.

“It was my first time being in the direct path of a total solar eclipse. It was very exciting. We traveled from Prescott, Arizona to stay in Kerrville, Texas to be on the path. We chose this destination hoping we’d have the best chance at clear and good weather.” says Ali.

However, even though she traveled from Arizona to Texas to be on the path, she experienced an unfortunate turn of events, saying, “Turned out the weather was very cloudy and overcast.” But, even when the weather was momentarily cloudy, Ali states, “Gratefully, there were moments throughout the whole eclipse (beginning approximately around 11:30 am and ending around 3:00 pm) where the clouds would temporarily part so the eclipse phases could be seen. Miraculously, right at the point of totality, around 1:30 pm, the clouds parted enough for the whole eclipse to be seen.” 

With desperation to see the eclipse fully, Ali shares, “Everything went dark as night, birds in the park went silent & the temperature dropped noticeably. We later heard from people that were viewing at a park 3 miles away that they could not see the totality at all from the complete cloud coverage there….We were very lucky!” And finally, Ali saw the eclipse. She remarks on the experience, saying, “For the moment of the apex of the eclipse I found a place on a walking bridge over the river to be relatively by and with myself. I was absolutely awestruck as I watched the eclipse turn into the ‘ring of fire’. I do not cry easily at all… but I felt my body begin to lightly shake from the overwhelm of wonder and magnificence and then I shed uncontrollable tears of joy…. It was amazing…An experience of a lifetime.” 

Ali’s remarkably sensational perspective of the eclipse during totality was a life-changing experience to her, seeming like the perfect moment to be in. 

However, Daniel Dressel, a DSST Montview High School Algebra 2 teacher was in partial path during the eclipse: Which he remarks, having a different experience.  

“I did see the eclipse!  It was during lunch, I was working but had set an alarm for myself so I headed out at the end of lunch to catch the height of it,” says Daniel. 

Even though Daniel did share the similarity of feeling the temperature go down when he says “My first impression was that it seemed noticeably dark and cooler out.” He expresses something else, sharing, “ I borrowed some of the eclipse glasses that Mr. Hollenbach was handing out and got a chance to see the sun indeed covered partially by the moon.  Viewing the partial eclipse did however leave me feeling a bit down, and that is because I have never in my life seen a full solar eclipse, and I have heard from friends that it is a truly awe-inspiring experience compared to what we saw.  My brother and a number of friends traveled to different places to be in the zone of totality, and I cannot help but feel jealous of them.” 

Even though he felt sad about not seeing the totality of the eclipse like Ali and a few of his friends/family did, he ended on a nice note, “ I heard that Colorado will have a total solar eclipse in some 20 years!  I just cross my fingers that I survive the coming “Water Wars” to experience that event.”

Overall, the different perspectives of the eclipse can have other lasting emotional impacts, making people hope that they can feel the same emotional effects that totality viewers have.