Ever since the school started taking extra precautions and going into lockdown, the high school experience diminished severely for some. Arguably, the most inconvenienced by these changes are the school’s senior class.

Seniors like Robert Pipkin were devastated to find that their senior year would only be a shadow of what was to be expected. 

“I feel like it’s our senior year and I just want to have a normal senior year,” Pipkin said. “I have cried multiple times this year because, selfishly, I want the senior year I’ve been dreaming of for 13 years.”

Prom is one of the biggest highlights for seniors. It is no surprise that many are equally, if not more so, heartbroken by the cancellation of this momentous event.

“It really sucks because I have been looking forward to going to prom since I was in middle school,” senior Malia Hernandez said. “Prom, graduation and various other events that we get to do our senior year are like rites of passage and we get none of them due to Covid. 

“I just really want a prom because I haven’t gone to any in my four years here and I want to be able to experience it at least once.”

For many students, prom is a rite of passage, an event that signifies age; however, there are also many students who see the event as an opportunity to gather with their peers and celebrate through bright lights, extravagant attire and music.

“The only thing I miss about prom and homecoming is the process of getting ready. I love getting all pretty and having somewhere to go,” senior Addilyn Hilton said.

Prom isn’t the only experience that these seniors are missing out on. Their four-year-long wait for a graduation party may not even happen.

“I think it sucks. I mean, this is everything we’ve been working for for the past four years. Hopefully, they find some way to do it,” senior Cameron Eckdahl said.

Senior graduation is a transition into adulthood and symbolizes students’ change from a high school student to a fully-fledged adult. Seniors losing their graduation feel an immense amount of disappointment from missing out on the event they’ve looked forward to for so long.

“I have always been excited to have the ceremony and feel proud of myself for accomplishing high school, but with that maybe not being possible, it’s just kinda sad to me,” senior Nicole Henderson said. “I’ve been looking forward to it for such a long time and it feels so close only for it to be taken.”

If missing out on prom and graduation isn’t enough, students are also experiencing a lack of motivation when it comes to schoolwork. 

“There’s a fine line between senioritis and quarantine motivation — or lack of it. When we went remote for a month or so before winter break, I was in bed with a cup of coffee, my laptop and an Xbox controller. I barely moved a muscle,” Eckdahl said.

Even if playing games and lying in bed all day isn’t the prime reason for students’ lack of motivation, there are a plethora of other factors that play into that. The underlying thought that the world is deteriorating, for example, is one of them.

“The whole pandemic has definitely made me less motivated because there’s just so much going on on a larger scale, that it’s kind of hard to see the importance of just one assignment,” Henderson said.

Although, for some seniors, quarantine has actually been a benefit to their education and they have found themselves much more productive thanks to it.

“I actually am more motivated since quarantine started. My grades are a lot better because I can kind of do my own work on my own time which makes my schedule a lot easier,” Hilton said.

Dances and graduation ceremonies were not the only things affected by the pandemic. Many seniors are also disappointed having missed out on competitions and performances such as those involved with the marching band and other areas of arts.

“This year I was really looking forward to marching band competitions, not just because it’s my senior year, but also because I was a drum major. We didn’t get those,” Pipkin said. “I was also looking forward to getting to do another musical for theatre, especially because I’m going to college for musical theatre, but we can’t do a musical this year.”

Many are saddened by just the broad lack of being able to spend time with their classmates, and gather together at school. Pipkin said the Class of 2021 has gotten nothing from the school year.

“We haven’t really been able to have real social interaction, we haven’t had dances, we haven’t gotten pep assemblies, and we haven’t gotten the recognition of being seniors,” Pipkin adds.

Overall, the transition into post-secondary education, and adulthood in general, becomes much more intimidating for seniors. The worries begin to pile up for them, and the struggles that were expected are now overshadowed by new concerns caused by the new trials to come.

“I think it makes adulthood 10 times scarier. Normally, seniors would be worried about bills and transportation, but now we’ve got to worry about COVID flying around, and it makes some things like moving, and college acceptance take longer, as well as the fact that we’re on our own insurance. If we get quarantined, we’re on our own,” Eckdahl said.