High school seniors have all of the concerns that younger kids have right now. They're missing their friends, their schools, and their normal schedules. On top of that, they are uncertain about what their next steps will look like or how the deep economic ripples caused by the pandemic will affect them. It's anything but a fun summer. Stateside talked to three high school seniors about what it's like when a major milestone gets overshadowed by a global public health pandemic.
LaMar "Deuce" Price II
- Graduating from University of Detroit Jesuit High School.
- Price will attend Xavier University in New Orleans to study disease research.
Concerns surrounding moving to New Orleans during the COVID-19 outbreak have complicated Price’s fall plans.
“My mom obviously has had to do a lot of looking with me about schools, environments around the school, kind of a lot of stuff where it’s like, is this the best where you want to go, is this place going to be safe by the time you move down to school. A lot of decisions that we really didn’t think we were going to have to think about as intently during the decision process,” said Price.
Olivia Yates
- Graduating from Groves High School in Beverly Hills, MI.
- Yates will be attending the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor to study political science.
Yates is part of her Student Congress and has played a role in planning virtual events for the seniors at her school. But attending the online events, says Yates, comes with mixed feelings.
“You have to remember that it’s bigger than you right now, it’s bigger than anyone right now. We’re doing this to protect our grandparents and our family. I think it’s a mix of being overwhelmingly sad and overwhelmingly just proud of yourself that you can stay home and we have the ability to stay home,” said Yates.
Rodrigo Lopez-Ruiz
- Graduating from Wyoming High School.
- Lopez-Ruiz will do a year at Grand Rapids Community College. He then plans to transfer to Michigan State University to study business.
Wyoming cancelled its original graduation ceremony scheduled for May. Now, the district is tentatively planning on a ceremony in July, but Lopez-Ruiz acknowledges that it's not certain that will happen.
"I already went through the phase where I was like, ‘Oh, I’m not graduating’. So if it doesn’t happen, it’s not going to hit me as hard as it did the first time. But it’s going to hurt to not graduate from high school, but I’m just looking on the bright side that I’m closer to graduating from college.”
