By LEETAL PREZELMAYER and JAYDEN KUPFERMAN
Second semester of senior year is when students intend to celebrate the end of an important chapter in their lives. However, with the abrupt closing of schools due to COVID-19, this special time has not gone as planned.
Seniors feel this is an incredibly uneasy time. “I feel stressed and like I’m living the same day over, but I’m thankful that we had most of senior year and that my family is healthy,” said senior Brandon W.
The introduction of online school has also added to seniors’ struggles. “It has made the second semester of senior year much more stressful than the first with the overload of work we’re receiving,” said senior Jason D.
Some seniors are upset about losing the schedule they are used to. Senior Penelope A. said, “I miss having a really structured routine. Honestly it’s the simplest thing I miss the most.”
Many seniors feel they didn’t properly appreciate the time they had in school. Senior Caitlin C. said, “I wish I spent more time with my friends, instead of worrying about doing work, since this was our last year together and now it’s gone.”
Senior Olivia L. added, “I definitely wish that I had enjoyed my senior year more and not taken for granted the time I had to spend with friends.”
Seniors have been hosting socially distant gatherings to make up for the time they were meant to have together in school.
Plainview senior Shanie H. feels similarly to Jericho students. “This pandemic ruined my senior year. Everything is over and it is extremely upsetting. I wish I took advantage of the time I had before quarantine, so I would be ready for our new reality,” she said.
Wheatley senior Becca Z. is also disappointed with her shortened senior year. “I feel helpless, but I am trying to stay busy. This completely messed up every aspect of senior year that I was looking forward to, but I’ve accepted it and am ready to move on,” she said.
Although teachers will not be able to say typical goodbyes, they did share their hopes for the senior class. Spanish teacher Ms. Berkovsky said, “In the future, just because you might not find success in one area, keep going because you will find it in another area.”
Many teachers empathize with the senior class and their unconventional ending to high school. Business teacher Ms. Izzo said, “The class of 2020 will always be bound by what they lost, but they each have a future before them waiting to be found. Be patient, don’t rush. Take your time navigating and you will find your path.”
Social studies teacher Ms. Flockhart said, “My wishes for the senior class are to use this time to get to know themselves and what makes them the happiest. There is time for self reflection. They will forever be the class of 2020 who had to give up so much, but I hope they learned so much through this crisis and will become the strongest and most empathic group as a whole. I always believed in you, now believe in yourself.”
Forensics teacher Ms. Cancemi is grateful for the class of 2020. “Thank you for being respectful, kind, funny and engaged in learning all year. It has been one of the best years of teaching in my 30-year career. You are a resilient group of young people that handled this pandemic with grace and determination to not let COVID-19 break you. If you can handle this, you can handle anything that comes your way. I am proud of each and every one of you,” she said.
Despite the fact that it will not end with walking across a graduation stage with all of their friends, the class of 2020 will certainly remember the unconventional conclusion to their senior year.
