It is no secret that coronavirus has impacted all of us in some way or another. Big or small, our lives have changed and we must accept our new reality for the time being. For some they were laid off from their jobs, for others they were sent home from college. I interviewed high school seniors on how they believe their last year in high school was affected. I interviewed Garrett Sheffield (University of Utah ‘24), Erin Mitchell (University of Alabama ‘24), and Katie Simon (Florida State University ‘24).
What were your expectations leading into your senior year?
Sheffield: I was expecting to wrap up my year pretty nicely. I was hoping to hangout with all my friends, go to Fruhlingsfest, prom, graduation, and all those other fun senior things.
Mitchell: My expectations were just going to be to try and make some memories before I had to go off and do things on my own. I love the thought of being independent a little more but I also wanted to enjoy the one year where academics weren’t a stress and my main focus was just living life.
Simon: My expectations were to go to football and basketball games, spend a lot of time with my friends, spend spring break in Tampa with my family, go to Universal Studios with my senior class (a tradition for some high schools in Florida), go to my senior prom, and graduate. I also expected to take AP exams in May that I had been preparing for all year.
How has coronavirus impacted your senior year?
Sheffield: Coronavirus has cut off about 1/3 of my school year. It definitely has cut it short and now school is online. Which is all the work without the fun of seeing friends and leaving the house. It’s not very cool at all.
Mitchell: I could definitely be worse off to be fair. I know a few people that were counting on getting college funded from spring sports that are now wondering what they’re going to do. But my last ever fest was canceled. I’m going to be spending my 18th birthday by myself. Countless school trips were canceled that I had signed up for in an effort to participate in everything I could. My last few months in Europe are being spent in my house when instead I should be traveling and doing as much as I can before I go live on my own. My prom is on the line which seems silly to people but it was really going to be the best one yet. My graduation is on the line which is something I have looked forward to since I knew what a graduation was. Online school and isolation combined with senioritis has sent most of the senior class into a severe depression right now. Senior years the year where everyone finds the right group they fit in. It’s the year with the most fun. While there’s college stress it’s been way easier than my previous years. Corona has taken away my chance to try and enjoy the last few months I have as a kid before I go off and have to at least attempt at being more independent. It really hurts but I’m hopeful that it won’t affect my freshman year of college.
Simon: Corona impacted my senior year by canceling my spring break trip and taking away time that I would be spending in a classroom with my friends. My high school starts online school next week and we are supposed to go back on April 15th. our prom was rescheduled but we were told that they could only push it back once so if the new date doesn’t work I won’t have a senior prom. My graduation isn’t canceled yet, but the college we were supposed to have it at is out-of-class so they might close for graduations.
How are you currently completing your classes?
Sheffield: I complete my classes online. They make us sign in for every class and it is just so annoying and it feels like there is no point.
Mitchell: Currently my classes are online. Almost all of my teachers use a different form of technology for turning in assignments so it’s a little confusing but all the teachers are trying to lighten up the workload because they know everyone’s stressed, which is very nice.
Simon: I am completing my classes online through Schoology. There are 2 conferences a week (some optional, some not) and we have to turn in assignments online.
What do you miss most about going to a physical school?
Sheffield: I miss going to school because I get to see my friends. Like living in Germany, I don’t have a home town to return to. I don’t have a place to go to during the summer where all the kids come back and hangout and meet up. Instead I won’t see 99% of these people again. No matter how close.
Mitchell: I really miss the people. I miss interacting with friends and teachers. We have FaceTime and Google meets for classes but there’s always difficulty with technology and it’s just not the same. I also miss having a routine. I just liked leaving the house and being able to walk around opposed to now where I wake up and my class is 2 ft away. But definitely mostly the people.
Simon: The thing I miss most about going to school is seeing my friends and teachers. A lot of my teachers, like my American Sign Language one for example, have been teaching me for 3+ years so it’s sad to think that if i don’t go back in April I may never attend their classes again.
What are you most disappointed about?
Sheffield: I’m most disappointed in not being able to spend my last few months of high school in school with the people I like. I wasn’t even going to go to school on my last day because I thought that the virus would just happen and everything would go the way it always has. But instead the last day I went back after an appointment. And when they canceled school people were happy. Except a few of us who realized that we don’t know if they will open again for us. This could be the last day. Last time seeing teachers, friends, and could’ve been the last time we walked those halls. It happened in the blink of an eye and that’s what hurts most about it.
Mitchell: The numbers were getting pretty high in Germany. I know they’re the highest in the U.S right now and I’m just disappointed on how people are responding. There’s kids that are having group sleepovers at our school and then two days later one of them tests positive. I get everyone misses being social and feels like they need it but the longer that this goes on the longer we’ll be in isolation.
Simon: I am most disappointed about graduation and the other traditions that high schools have. I am also worried about my fall semester at Florida State because I don’t want that affected either. I am also disappointed in the way that AP exams are structured now because they made them online, shorter, and harder (to prevent cheating) which is disappointing because I have studied a lot this year and I don’t believe my year of learning should be condensed into 45 minutes.
How do you think the schools should conduct your graduation ceremony?
Sheffield: I can’t really tell. I want graduation to go the way it always has and I want school to go that way as well. But since there is a disease we do not have an option. So my graduating class will probably just get an email or something and then we can move on to the next big stage of life. It’s just sad that all of us didn’t get to end our childhood the way we’ve always imagined. Instead it’s just like a light switch that got turned off.
Mitchell: They haven’t said anything about canceling it officially yet. Of course there’s been speculation but no one’s said anything about extending the online schooling past April 20th when it’s supposed to end. It’s supposed to get worse in the states because they’re a little behind where we are so I’m hoping that we can go back to school at the scheduled time even if the states are back yet. If we can’t I’m assuming travel is still on lockdown. I would vote for them to wait until all travel is ok again because until then everyone’s going to be in isolation, but when travel bans are lifted we could all be in a group and have a real graduation before everyone moves away. It may take longer but no ones going anywhere until we can be in groups again anyways.
Simon: I think they should move the ceremony to the summer to give us a physical one, if available. I would rather have my ceremony be a few months later than do an online ceremony after all my hard work.
So, it is evident that these high school seniors are disappointed and sad to see the last of their childhoods come to a close like this, as Scarlett Meads (University of the Arts London ‘24) says, “it’s been shit, that’s all.” Luckily, there is only positivity that comes out of this situation. These seniors will be eager to go to college and succeed. I wish them the best of luck with the rest of their senior year and prosperity in the years to come.