An untraditional ending
Becca Howard
Four freshmen — Becca Howard, Daria Lundberg, Deja Howard, and Kayla Keller sit on a couch as they reminisce about what it was like to graduate from high school in the middle of a pandemic.
It was about a year ago when the four girls were told to take an early spring break in March. Becca Howard knew at the time that things were not normal, but she remained optimistic that she would be able to return to Collinsville High School.
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“It was so strange,” said Howard, “I had considered the possibility of not being able to return to school but I was hopeful that the school would figure it out.” Sadly though, Howard wouldn’t return to school till mid-May, but even then, her return for graduation would be less than normal.
Her graduation was a slideshow, that consisted of one picture from each of her 450 classmates and pre-recorded speeches from the valedictorian and salutatorian. Her ability to return to school was to do one simple thing — pick up her diploma. On May 16, she would drive through her old campus, quickly walk through an auditorium, and pick up her diploma waiting for her on a table. She remembers thinking, “I thought that I would’ve had the opportunity to walk through the halls or see my classmates for the last time, but I never received that closure.”
Her friend, Deja Howard, shared a different experience. Deja, who is from Pass Christian, Mississippi, said her entire community went all out for her school’s graduation. The small town changed the color of their street lights to match her school’s colors, and her school hung giant posters with a picture of every single graduate around the campus. “The actual graduation ceremony was pretty normal,” remarked
Deja Howard
Deja, “we were allowed to have six to eight guests and we just had to stay six feet apart during the ceremony. After, the town shot off fireworks in celebration of us.”
Daria Lundberg from Brecksville, Ohio could relate with Deja about communities going all out. Her school held a parade for the graduates and she mentioned that people lined up down the streets as graduates and their families drove by in cars. After the parade, the school rented out a big field and the families could watch a pre-recorded ceremony of graduates walking across the stage and receiving their diplomas. “In a sense, it was kind of nicer because you were still with your family,” said Lundberg, “the only thing you missed out on was being with your class for one last time.”
The “one last time” sentiment is something that resonated with all the girls. For Kayla Keller, she thought about not being able to see classmates for the last time. “My parents were incredibly strict about following COVID protocols, so much so that I would have to sneak out to just see one of my friends.” It wouldn’t be till three months later when Keller would get to see her classmates again. “We were asked to come to a parking lot, stand six feet apart, and throw up our caps, but that was it.”
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Even though the girls were given creative graduation ceremonies they still noted that receiving closure was difficult. “It seemed unreal,” said Becca Howard, “that a ceremony randomly in mid-May was the end of it all.” Lundberg mentioned that they didn’t have traditional second-semester senior events like prom. Events like senior week and prom are often seen as capstone experiences to high school and without those, they had to find closure in other ways. For Deja Howard, closure meant renting a beach house with a group of friends, but for Becca Howard, “closure came with time and realizing that with the start of college everything will be okay.”
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