Many of us would agree that our Senior year of High School was one of the most memorable years of our life. Between graduation, college acceptance letters, Prom, and the knowledge that it’s the last year spent in your hometown (and parents’ house no less), it’s a time that we both never want to end, and can’t get past soon enough. Unfortunately, for the class of 2020, most of these traditions were devastated by COVID-19. In this series, we chat with Seniors to find out the extent of the impact to their final year of High School and what they’ve done to salvage those memories.
Meet Kristal D., an 18-year-old student from Beijing who’s finishing her senior year at Dulwich College Beijing (DCB).
Can you briefly walk us through how COVID-19 has evolved for you, personally? What were your initial thoughts? At what point did you realize the devastation and disruption it was causing? How do you currently feel?
I first found out about the virus from my parents in late December. At the time there wasn’t too much information circulating online, so I dismissed the news thinking it would pass relatively quickly, but there was a tangible fear from my parents as they recalled scenes from the SARS outbreak in 2003. Over the next few weeks, the situation escalated, with cases almost doubling on the daily, and the shortages of masks and sanitation supplies due to bulk-buying became a huge point of worry for myself and many others. The real challenge was trying to discern if the problem was real or if fear was driving the seemingly irrational behavior. The sheer volume of news and information flooding WeChat and news outlets made it so difficult to filter through the noise. It’s interesting, but disheartening, to see social dynamics play out in the face of a global pandemic.
Senior year of High School is supposed to be one of the most memorable years of your life. Unfortunately, however, you and your peers aren’t getting to enjoy all that it has to offer. Can you tell us a bit about that? What are the conversations that are happening amongst your friends right now?
As seniors, there was an initial excitement amongst my friends when school authorities announced a delay in reopening, we perceived it as more of an “extended holiday” because we didn’t really understand the gravity of the situation. It wasn’t until we were notified that school had been postponed “indefinitely until further notice” that we realized just how serious COVID-19 was and, with study leave in two months, we faced the possibility of not receiving an official graduation. There were also a lot of discussions and uncertainty surrounding the plausibility of continuing Dulwich’s graduating traditions. Previous commitments and clubs have also been paused, so having to work on projects remotely has also been challenging. Fortunately, with the virus currently controlled in Beijing, we were able to at least hold a small IB art exhibition off-campus to photograph our work and complete the IB Diploma Program. And with the school reopening date set to be Apr 27, we are all very excited to see our friends back at school.
What activities were you most looking forward to this year that have either been postponed or canceled? Prom, graduation ceremony, etc.
Grad trip, the leaver’s assembly, and graduation dinner were definitely among the most highly anticipated. I was also looking forward to ACAMIS football, which would have been one of my last tournaments with collegiate sports being so competitive. As for grad trip, my friends and I had booked our tickets to Japan and Korea back in January, so the discussions we were forced to have about cancellation policies and refunds were very difficult. The whole experience has honestly been an emotional rollercoaster of wishful thinking and consequential disappointments, but we are all holding out hope that graduation will commence as planned in late-May now that we are all going back to school!
Has COVID-19 affected your ability to graduate at all?
I think the situation is less stressful for those of us who plan on going to the US, but when IBO released the cancellation of exams, I was definitely worried about my conditional offers in the UK. Fortunately, universities have been extremely understanding in combating the obstacles presented by this pandemic, and I receive information daily through email and via social media about the means of support available to incoming students.
Has COVID-19 affected your plans for after graduation? If so, how? Were you planning on going abroad for college? Doing a bit of traveling during the Summer? Etc.
I’ve always imagined myself studying in the US, so I remain optimistic that my plans will resume as normal. While I do have safety concerns considering the severity of COVID-19 in the US and reported cases of xenophobia, I am hopeful that the actions taken towards combating these problems will alleviate some of the stress come August. I would love to travel over the summer, but probably only domestically.
Despite all that has happened this year, have you done anything to try and salvage these last few months of your High School experience? Have you and your friends been able to “hang out” on Zoom or FaceTime? Have you made backup plans for a Prom in case it gets officially canceled?
It’s interesting to watch scenarios strictly seen on film unfold in real life. Social distancing has definitely brought our creativity up to a whole new level. NetflixParty is very popular, and so are games like drawful and skribbl.io. I think we’re all very eager to physically be with our friends once restrictions are relaxed, so the backup plans we have so far mainly consist of get-togethers and outdoor picnics where everyone can communicate face-to-face without the restrictions of bad Internet.
Photos: Kristal D.
