What It Is Like Being a Senior During the Coronavirus
Are you a senior?
Do you know a senior?
Maybe you are a teacher, a friend, a relative, a classmate?
If you answered yes to any of those questions, this is for you. Get the insight of how this is impacting high school seniors, from a real senior who is struggling. Learn how to understand and help any senior during this time. While we are quarantined, we are not supposed to do this alone!
On March 13, 2020 at 1:20 pm my life fell apart. I was in my English IV DE class when the governor announced the closure of schools through April 13. Immediately my teacher received an email that said to pay attention for the announcement they would be making at 2:15 pm. Obviously I got anxious thinking of the worst case scenarios. After class I talked to my teacher, one of my favorites. She said "I know you are stressed, but we will figure it out. That may not be for us since we are not a public school. Do not worry about it until the school says something." I kept checking the news during my Spanish IV H class, which was last. My teacher happened to not be there that day since she had to be with her daughter and I just remember thinking this is it, yesterday was the last day I would see her. I talked with the other two member of my class, yes there are only three of us, and I began to cry. Clearly as seniors, we have the right to be upset over this, yet our substitute had a different opinion. He said juniors (we were combined with Spanish III) you have next year, but seniors this sucks and you just have to get over it. I kept trying to tell myself I am overreacting, yet my gut feelings did in fact come true. I spent the whole hour crying, then running around school trying to pick up all of my stuff since they announced us to take everything just in case. I knew it was not looking good, especially for the seniors who end three weeks ahead of everybody else. When the bell rang, my heart sank. I took my time walking out the doors one last time, looking back for my friends who were lost in the crowd. I said out loud, "well I guess this is it, did not expect to walk out of class for the last time like this." A billion thoughts were running through my head, but when I saw my religion teacher in the hallways with tears in her eyes, I lost it. I walked to my car as fast as possible and broke down. I cried the entire way home and then some, but I realized maybe I should document this. I took out my handy dandy phone and began recording, well what you could hear in between sobs. (I have continued to film every single day of quarantine, not that I would ever want to relive these memories, but because it lets others know everyone is struggling. My second reason is because there is nothing to film if I sit around like a depressed grump all day to it has forced me to do at least something outside of school each day.) Not even an hour later, the school sent out an email saying that we would follow the public schools. I was like ok, I have three weeks of this, spring break, then I will get to spend my last two weeks at school.What do you know, life slapped me in the face once more. The governor extended the closure through the end of April. As a senior who is supposed to finishing up classes on April 30th, was faced with unfathomable heartbreak. I had been talking with my teachers since that horrific Friday the 13th, and they were reassuring me we would be back, maybe this might end sooner, it will not be perfect but it will be ok, etc. I trusted them, which eased my fears until the unthinkable occurred. There was still a possibility of returning to school May 4, which would have marked the first day of senior exams. Even though I was exempted from my exams, you bet I would show up anyway just for the sake of closing this chapter the way it should have. By now you can probably guess school has been cancelled until August, what does that mean for graduation? Just because this virus took away the last two months of high school does not mean the class of 2020 should be forgotten. Look at us! We did not ask for this. Ya, maybe we complained about school here and there, but we took for granted the last few weeks we had together and did not enjoy the time we had as much as we should have. It is like the saying, "you do not know what you have until it is gone". Here is the thing. All 120 seniors at my school will be attending different colleges across the nation. Some right here at home, but most thousands of miles away. The fact of the matter is, our chances of all being together again are slim to none.
The hardest part is knowing I did not get to say goodbye, soak up the little time left, or experience those memories that can never be replaced! This is hard. This is real. I am not kidding when I say I have broke down crying at least once a day. I know everyone is stressed and I feel for those on the front-lines or the families separated, but we the class of 2020 should not be ignored because of more important worldly things. There will always be something more important than a graduation ceremony, yet did the class of 2002 not graduate because of 9/11? What about the class of 2014? They still had a graduation despite the Black Lives Matter movement. They do not cancel school when a new president is elected, do they? The class of 2018 walked across the stage after Hurricane Harvey ripped through the South. My point is, we deserve some recognition not only because we are moving on with our lives but also since we were forced to sacrifice these sentimental moments that so many others get to bask in. While a simple graduation cannot make up for lost time, it can mend hearts. Is that too much to ask?
It sucks that my senior year had to end this way. I did not work this hard for four years not to receive my diploma. I was looking forward to proving everyone wrong that I made it despite all the obstacles thrown my way. I will get to all of that on a future blog, just know I went through a hellacious three years and people doubted I would make it out ok. I cannot believes it is now over. High school ended like it started...in absolute chaos. If you are unaware, the Great Flood of 2016 had schools canceled for about two weeks after only being a freshman for three days. This past year was the best so far and it sucks that it had to end early. I finally felt comfortable at school again. I could talk to my friends without worry, confide in some teachers without fear, it was great. I just feel like anytime I make gains, life rips it away from me. I know many other seniors feel the same way and wish this situation was handled differently, but what are we to say. Other opinions always overlook the "little seniors who are upset about graduation". We should be allowed to grieve this loss without being judged for it.
Anyways, I hope you got something out of this blog post. If anything, please be understanding and compassionate to the seniors. They are dealing with a lot right now and the added pressure of the coronavirus joined with social media backlash does not help the dwindling hope that remains.
Do you know a senior?
Maybe you are a teacher, a friend, a relative, a classmate?
If you answered yes to any of those questions, this is for you. Get the insight of how this is impacting high school seniors, from a real senior who is struggling. Learn how to understand and help any senior during this time. While we are quarantined, we are not supposed to do this alone!
On March 13, 2020 at 1:20 pm my life fell apart. I was in my English IV DE class when the governor announced the closure of schools through April 13. Immediately my teacher received an email that said to pay attention for the announcement they would be making at 2:15 pm. Obviously I got anxious thinking of the worst case scenarios. After class I talked to my teacher, one of my favorites. She said "I know you are stressed, but we will figure it out. That may not be for us since we are not a public school. Do not worry about it until the school says something." I kept checking the news during my Spanish IV H class, which was last. My teacher happened to not be there that day since she had to be with her daughter and I just remember thinking this is it, yesterday was the last day I would see her. I talked with the other two member of my class, yes there are only three of us, and I began to cry. Clearly as seniors, we have the right to be upset over this, yet our substitute had a different opinion. He said juniors (we were combined with Spanish III) you have next year, but seniors this sucks and you just have to get over it. I kept trying to tell myself I am overreacting, yet my gut feelings did in fact come true. I spent the whole hour crying, then running around school trying to pick up all of my stuff since they announced us to take everything just in case. I knew it was not looking good, especially for the seniors who end three weeks ahead of everybody else. When the bell rang, my heart sank. I took my time walking out the doors one last time, looking back for my friends who were lost in the crowd. I said out loud, "well I guess this is it, did not expect to walk out of class for the last time like this." A billion thoughts were running through my head, but when I saw my religion teacher in the hallways with tears in her eyes, I lost it. I walked to my car as fast as possible and broke down. I cried the entire way home and then some, but I realized maybe I should document this. I took out my handy dandy phone and began recording, well what you could hear in between sobs. (I have continued to film every single day of quarantine, not that I would ever want to relive these memories, but because it lets others know everyone is struggling. My second reason is because there is nothing to film if I sit around like a depressed grump all day to it has forced me to do at least something outside of school each day.) Not even an hour later, the school sent out an email saying that we would follow the public schools. I was like ok, I have three weeks of this, spring break, then I will get to spend my last two weeks at school.What do you know, life slapped me in the face once more. The governor extended the closure through the end of April. As a senior who is supposed to finishing up classes on April 30th, was faced with unfathomable heartbreak. I had been talking with my teachers since that horrific Friday the 13th, and they were reassuring me we would be back, maybe this might end sooner, it will not be perfect but it will be ok, etc. I trusted them, which eased my fears until the unthinkable occurred. There was still a possibility of returning to school May 4, which would have marked the first day of senior exams. Even though I was exempted from my exams, you bet I would show up anyway just for the sake of closing this chapter the way it should have. By now you can probably guess school has been cancelled until August, what does that mean for graduation? Just because this virus took away the last two months of high school does not mean the class of 2020 should be forgotten. Look at us! We did not ask for this. Ya, maybe we complained about school here and there, but we took for granted the last few weeks we had together and did not enjoy the time we had as much as we should have. It is like the saying, "you do not know what you have until it is gone". Here is the thing. All 120 seniors at my school will be attending different colleges across the nation. Some right here at home, but most thousands of miles away. The fact of the matter is, our chances of all being together again are slim to none.
The hardest part is knowing I did not get to say goodbye, soak up the little time left, or experience those memories that can never be replaced! This is hard. This is real. I am not kidding when I say I have broke down crying at least once a day. I know everyone is stressed and I feel for those on the front-lines or the families separated, but we the class of 2020 should not be ignored because of more important worldly things. There will always be something more important than a graduation ceremony, yet did the class of 2002 not graduate because of 9/11? What about the class of 2014? They still had a graduation despite the Black Lives Matter movement. They do not cancel school when a new president is elected, do they? The class of 2018 walked across the stage after Hurricane Harvey ripped through the South. My point is, we deserve some recognition not only because we are moving on with our lives but also since we were forced to sacrifice these sentimental moments that so many others get to bask in. While a simple graduation cannot make up for lost time, it can mend hearts. Is that too much to ask?
It sucks that my senior year had to end this way. I did not work this hard for four years not to receive my diploma. I was looking forward to proving everyone wrong that I made it despite all the obstacles thrown my way. I will get to all of that on a future blog, just know I went through a hellacious three years and people doubted I would make it out ok. I cannot believes it is now over. High school ended like it started...in absolute chaos. If you are unaware, the Great Flood of 2016 had schools canceled for about two weeks after only being a freshman for three days. This past year was the best so far and it sucks that it had to end early. I finally felt comfortable at school again. I could talk to my friends without worry, confide in some teachers without fear, it was great. I just feel like anytime I make gains, life rips it away from me. I know many other seniors feel the same way and wish this situation was handled differently, but what are we to say. Other opinions always overlook the "little seniors who are upset about graduation". We should be allowed to grieve this loss without being judged for it.
Anyways, I hope you got something out of this blog post. If anything, please be understanding and compassionate to the seniors. They are dealing with a lot right now and the added pressure of the coronavirus joined with social media backlash does not help the dwindling hope that remains.
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