Seniors reflect on COVID-19’s impact on high school careers

Braeley Gottier was looking forward to her senior year, with pep rallies, Toga Day and other fun activities marking the end of her Vestavia Hills High School career.

But when the COVID-19 pandemic hit last spring during Gottier’s junior year, it meant some not-so-welcome changes to the Class of 2021’s plans.

“It’s all gone,” Gottier said.

Gottier said she, like many others, set her expectations of her senior year on what she saw previous graduating classes do, but the pandemic unfortunately put a halt to those expectations. “It all comes crashing down,” Gottier said.

Like the Class of 2020 before them, the Class of 2021 is graduating under unprecedented circumstances, but unlike last year’s class, this year’s seniors have dealt with the pandemic for two school years.

Katherine Morrison, another graduating senior, said when the pandemic first started and students were sent home, they weren’t expecting it to be the end of learning in person for the year.

“We all thought it was going to be a three-week spring break,” Morrison said.

Gottier said students didn’t really have time to say goodbye because none of them thought the pandemic would last that long. Going a long stretch without seeing friends hurt, she said.

“You don’t think someone’s smile can mean as much until you can’t see it every day,” Gottier said.

Morrison said she participated in the fourth nine-week block of learning, which was made optional last spring, and she was grateful she did. “I got extra time with my teachers,” she said.

Some teachers even combined their classes, so she was able to meet some new students as well, Morrison said.

Gottier said while being a virtual student had its perks, it’s also challenging because students were, at times, having to teach themselves and pace themselves.

Going fully online for a while was tough, Morrison said. She learned how much she missed school, even tests. So, when she got the option to return in person for the 2020-21 school year, she knew she wanted to come back.

“When it’s completely taken away from you, I think it’s made people realize how grateful you are,” Morrison said.

Having an older brother, Morrison said she imagined her senior year would be filled with pep rallies, class days and more.

While much of the year has not gone as planned, she credited Principal Tonya Rozell for prioritizing the seniors and making them feel special.

Morrison said teachers have rallied around the students and tried to make the school year fun, despite its challenges. “They’ve created an environment that’s fun to be in,” she said.

While the seniors were only able to have one pep rally during the 2020 football season, they were able to have one outside, which was a lot of fun, Morrison said.

This past football season was the last for Aidan Robinson in a Rebels jersey. Getting ready for his senior season right as the pandemic began making its way through the state was quite the experience, Robinson said.

“For some workouts [before the pandemic], we’ve come in every day knowing we have a practice,” Robinson said. “Last year … we didn’t know if we’d have another day.”

Robinson said the team being quarantined for two weeks at the beginning of the season created a major hurdle because most of the players quarantined were first- and second-string players.

Off the football field, Robinson said the pandemic has helped him prepare for life after school. Having academics become a virtual-only experience for a little while helped him set his own schedule and kept him from getting lazy in his studies.

Beyond that, he said while it’s certainly affected him and his classmates, it’s hard to say at this point if it’s a largely positive or

negative experience, though he did say it’s helped him learn to deal with change and overcome adversity.

“I think it will be a big learning point of my life,” Robinson said.

As vice president of the student government association, Morrison said it has been tough not holding traditional events like the student-faculty basketball game, but they were able to hold “Spirit Days,” where people celebrated the return of football season, and a canned goods drive, which boosted student morale during a challenging year.

Morrison is also part of Youth Leadership Vestavia Hills and was able to resume tutoring students at Vestavia Hills Elementary East students in the fall, something she cherishes, especially as younger students adapt to the “new normal.”

“This is completely different for them,” Morrison said.

Morrison said it has been really special to help them in this difficult time. That empathy and care for others is needed as everyone has had to deal with the pandemic, she said.

“Those feelings of isolation and loneliness really kind of hit home for everybody,” Morrison said.

While students have returned to in-person learning, Gottier said there’s still so much that isn’t “normal.”

“This is our last year, and we’ve had so much taken from us,” Gottier said.

Still, students have made the most of the situation. Gottier said FaceTime has been her “go to” during the pandemic.

Like Robinson, Gottier said she believes the pandemic has changed her.

“I think it’s going to make me appreciate my friends a lot more,” Gottier said. She added it will also make her strive to live life to the fullest and leave no regrets.

After graduation, which is planned to be at Thompson Reynolds Stadium in May, Gottier plans to go to the University of Alabama and study to be a veterinarian for horses and farm animals, or possibly become a nurse.

Robinson has committed to play football at UNA, though he hasn’t been able to meet a coach face-to-face due to the pandemic.

Morrison said she is going to Auburn University, and plans to major in industrial engineering and minor in German.