SCHOOLS

What does future hold? 3 grads give their perspective

By TARA MONASTESSE
Posted 6/11/20

B_Byline Name: By TARA MONASTESSE With high schools across the country closed since mid-March in the face of the sudden COVID-19 pandemic, how are leaders in Warwick high schools looking forward to their futures after crossing the stage at a much

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

E-mail
Password
Log in
SCHOOLS

What does future hold? 3 grads give their perspective

Posted

With high schools across the country closed since mid-March in the face of the sudden COVID-19 pandemic, how are leaders in Warwick high schools looking forward to their futures after crossing the stage at a much smaller graduation ceremonies than they could have ever anticipated?

It turns out that the path isn’t uniform, with different majors, outlooks, and post-secondary career and education plans for each student giving them their own hopes and goals for navigating the world during and after the coronavirus. The Beacon conducted phone interviews with three outstanding students in the graduating Warwick Public School classes - two valedictorians and one class president - in order to hear their opinions on what the future may hold for both them and the global community.

Jamee Salisbury, Pilgrim High School’s valedictorian, said that losing events such as prom and her outdoor track season has been a major setback for her graduating class. Without the usual fun senior activities to send off the soon-to-be graduates, she said that the experience of senior year was seriously altered from the predictions that she and her classmates originally had.

As she plans to major in finance this fall once she begins her studies at Temple University, Salisbury related that her chosen field will likely face enormous challenges as many businesses have suffered from a struggling economy as a result of the pandemic. She remains optimistic, however, that the pandemic will result in a higher standard for sanitation in many industries, especially food service.

While she says that Temple University currently has plans to welcome students back to the physical campus in Philadelphia in autumn, there will still be social distancing precautions in place by then, as well as an early end to the fall term.

Personally, Salisbury experienced little disruption in her own college application process; however, she acknowledged the difficulties many students have faced when not being able to visit the campuses of their potential choices, and mentioned that the pandemic may deter some students from going to schools far away from home.

Instead of giving a traditional live address to her classmates in person; Salisbury pre-recorded her speech in late May to be shown virtually instead.

“It’s harder to make jokes or to relate to the audience,” she responded when asked how her speech would be different without her graduating class there with her. However, she said that she was grateful for the chance to still participate in her class’s final ceremony.

“It’s definitely been hard for the track team not having a final season,” said Kaylah Staknis, Toll Gate High School’s graduating valedictorian this year and an involved athlete in her school community.

Looking back, Staknis wishes that she had spent more time at sporting events with her friends before schools closed for the spring; she described “putting off happiness” and focusing on her studies with the resolve to enjoy herself later at the end of the year. Now that her senior spring has been interrupted by COVID-19, she has resolved to always appreciate what she has in the moment, and to never again delay the opportunity to make memories with the people she cares about. She notes the loss of a proper senior night for the indoor track team, as well as an entire lost season of outdoor track, as particularly devastating.

Staknis described how her sports teams became a second family to her, always there to provide support no matter what time or place. She pointed out how Mr. Ricci, their outdoor track coach, was also a substantial influence on her team during their years of competition, and leaving without a sense of closure has been difficult.

She will attend the University of Notre Dame this fall on an ROTC scholarship, where she plans to major in political science. Afterwards, she will pursue five years of service in keeping with the scholarship terms.

While the pandemic may have disrupted her life, Staknis says that it has ultimately strengthened her initial resolve to make a difference in America through politics.

“This has made me more passionate about the field and really solidified my interest in it,” she said. Staknis believes that the ability to persevere through difficult and unexpected experiences will help not only her, but her chosen field as a whole, develop as time goes on in order to be more versatile and effective.

She recorded her graduation speech on the same day she went to pick up her cap and gown, noting that the experience was vastly different than how she could have ever expected.

“I’m grateful to have been able to do it on the Toll Gate stage, but it was hard for closure without the audience,” she said. “Not having that final moment was really difficult.” 

While the state of Indiana may change its policies later on, Staknis says the current plan for the University of Notre Dame is to open in early August in order to complete a term before Thanksgiving, reducing the likelihood of students bringing the virus back to campus following an autumn break.

The nature of the pandemic is especially personal to Madison Enos, who served as Class President of Pilgrim High School’s 2020 graduating class; she plans to pursue a biomedical sciences degree on a pre-med track at Quinnipiac University this fall. She particularly lamented the cancellation of her Science Olympiad team’s final competition this spring, which takes nearly the entire preceding school year to prepare for. As Enos graduated eighth in her class, 

Spotlight on medicine

In terms of awareness, she says the pandemic has contributed to a greater public appreciation of the valuable work done in the medical field.

“It’s showing everyone not just the doctors and the surgeons, but what the nurses do,” she said, noting that their work goes far beyond simple tasks like checking vitals. “I think it’s really opened everyone’s eyes to what healthcare is.” 

Enos considers herself lucky as far as college decisions go; she was able to visit one of her two final choices for college prior to the pandemic, which allowed her to rule out that school and decide on Quinnipiac as her final choice. She also credits extensive online information put out by Quinnipiac University, as well as guidance from a family friend who went there, as helpful assistance in the process of making a decision regarding her post-secondary education. She said that students will arrive at the university two weeks prior in order to undergo COVID-19 testing.

She hopes that she will be able to use her love of innovation to engage with the medical community after high school, in order to address new challenges as they come with creative solutions.

While Enos wishes her high school graduation ceremony could be more traditional, she acknowledges that the social distancing guidelines in both Rhode Island and Warwick specifically could have been a lot worse. She appreciates the opportunity to bring family members, as well as the chance to experience walking the stage. 

As for the Warwick students yet to begin the process of applying to college, certain aspects of the typical application timeline have been disrupted; in-school administrations of the SAT were canceled in March, with testing dates now set to be held in-person with social distancing guidelines in place starting this August. While priority registration will be given to students who have not yet acquired a score, the window to retake the test has been greatly reduced. The College Board, who administers the SAT, has begun requesting that colleges adopt a more flexible outlook on test scores and their role in the admissions process. 

The Capstone Project for rising Warwick seniors, which will serve as a modified version of the traditional senior project, is also now entirely virtual to ensure that it is possible to complete regardless of whether or not students will return to physical classrooms in the future.

schools, graduates

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here