The Class of 2019 was the last class to get a normal senior experience. They got the privilege of having their annual chalking at the beginning of the year, gridlocks in the hallway, having prom, and everything in between. As underclassmen at the time, the Class of 2022 looked up to these seniors, and couldn’t wait for these traditions to be their own. However, not everything went as planned.

Covid-19 has drastically impacted the student, and especially senior, experience these past two years. The Class of 2020 was unable to finish their senior year in-person, have a prom, and a graduation without masks and social distancing. Although the Class of 2021 was able to have more of a “normal” senior experience, many of the traditions they were looking forward to had to be altered to fit the needs of the pandemic. Now, the Class of 2022 has become the third year of seniors to have their last year of high school take place during a global pandemic. 

Even with this similarity to the past two years, the strong start to the school year shows promise to the seniors, along with the rest of the school. “We just had senior chalking a couple of days ago and it was a lot of fun and didn’t feel as if it was infringed upon in any way due to covid,” explained Eliana Zitrin ‘22. It seems that although we are still not in a post-pandemic world, we are definitely moving in the right direction. “I think the school is doing a great job in keeping our traditions and events alive even if they have some modifications. It’s been encouraging that we see the school has put in effort to have your year as normal as possible as seniors,” commented Lily Kiaei ‘22. 

Although seniors seem to be satisfied with the way the school is handling their traditions in the midst of a pandemic, there are still some restrictions. “Obviously there are aspects of this year that are different due to COVID, but I would rather do this than go back into quarantine,” explained Sabrina Finegold ‘22.  The senior class understands that even though their main focus is on having as normal of a year as possible, the school still needs to follow safety guidelines to make sure no one gets COVID. “As much as we would love to be able to see our classmates without masks and distancing, we know that this may not be possible at the time, so we are satisfied with what is being done given the circumstances,” added Lily Kiaei.

Overall, considering the fact that most of the world is still not “normal,” the SHS senior year is grateful for their near-normal experience, and looking forward to making this year count!