Author: Deja Bonney
Since COVID-19 hit back in 2019, the class of 2021 thought we were safe from getting any senior activities taken away from us. Well, we, unfortunately, thought wrong. Even though we were able to go to school some parts of the year, it still never felt the same. We weren’t able to sit next to our friends and talk about what our outfits or hair was going to be like for prom. We weren’t able to get flowers or cards of farewells at our last games of the season and high school. We were also told from the beginning of the year that we most likely won’t have a graduation. All of this news was difficult to bear. However, I think a lot of us decided to live with being isolated and tried our best.
For example, I have had the opportunity to become closer to some people in the senior class that I probably wouldn’t have if we weren’t in quarantine; we were able to see beyond our “lunchroom status” or hierarchy that high school usually brings, and actually see each other as real people. I began to bond and grow connections with people due to our similar situations: we were all angry and sad about not having a normal senior year, which allowed us to share our frustrations and talk to one another as stressed seniors, and not the person who sits alone at lunch or the person that has 10 friends near them. Ironically, absence did make our hearts grow fonder.
Here are some of my suggestions for bettering yourself and your senior class connection:
One thing to do for yourself is to begin to take walks or workout for at least thirty minutes to an hour every day. This will help create some normalcy in your life by introducing movement again. This will also make your mind and body feel much better.
Another thing to do is try to keep yourself busy but not stressed. There are a lot of virtual internships that you could do that interest you. This could be a great way to prepare yourself for the work world as well as finding out what career you would like to have.
As far as building connections with your senior class, you can speak to someone in your school about hosting a senior game night. This will allow all of the seniors to be in the same space similar to school. Just because some things can’t go back to normal just yet doesn’t mean you should lack mental health.
Personally, being at home and having a second to really sit and look at me each day, I got to figure out some things that I wanted to change about my lifestyle. I began to work out every day and also try my best to keep up with friends that I had in school.
Another initiative that I have become involved with over the course of the past year is with Youth Nation, an online platform that seeks to promote youth voice and SEL through blog posts. For those of you that don’t know, SEL stands for social and emotional learning. SEL is a way for young adults to have the knowledge and ability to share their emotions with others and build healthy identities. Personally, Youth Nation has been a way for me to voice my opinions freely and collaborate with many other young adults. Here is the link to the website: https://www.secdlab.org/youthnation. More recently, we are making an effort to share our experiences with organizations around the world through International SEL Day. SEL Day is also a social media campaign led by Urban Assembly and SEL4US. You can find out relevant posts on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook using the following hashtag: #SELDay.