Seniors at Roseville Area High School (RAHS) showed resilience throughout their high school years by not letting one pandemic year affect what legacies they left behind for future students. As graduation nears at RAHS, the Class of 2025 prepares to step into the future, but not without looking back at a high school experience shaped by the COVID-19 pandemic.
While the class of 2025’s freshman year in 2021 marked a return to classrooms, it wasn’t a return to normal. The effects of the pandemic lingered, with mask mandates, social distancing, and the emotional toll of previous years. The shift from middle school to high school was already scary, and their journeys began without the usual excitement for a clean slate, but rather an effort to rebuild routines, friendships, and senses of belonging.
For these students their high school journey began in classrooms, but not the same as it had been the years before. It wasn’t quite ‘normal’ again yet. Many students had different opinions on how COVID affected them as a class but they all had personal legacies they felt they left behind.
To Sophia Dang (12) COVID embodied resilience for her class. She said, “I think that COVID being a part of freshman year goes to show that we are resilient and are able to figure out new ways of learning and living.” Dang shows her resiliency by continuing to leave an athletic legacy. She hopes that her athletic legacy shows future students that hard work and dedication pay off.
Academically, Dang hopes that her academics show people that they can balance good grades and take challenging classes while still being socially involved with friends, clubs and sports.
For Madisen Lo (12) sees the harms COVID caused. “I think as a class, COVID affected our level of maturity. COVID started when we were in 7th grade and carried into our freshman year. I think we lost a crucial year in middle school, which is where kids found to get away with acting immature and goofy. In high school, we became known as the annoying freshman class, and we tested the rules set by the admin.” Said Lo.
Lo hopes her academic legacy would be how hard she worked to meet any assignment deadlines and to be remembered for how organized she was. Lo also shared about her fun legacy, “A fun legacy I hope to leave behind is my passion for community engagement. I did StuCo all throughout high school and served as president this year. I also created the RAHS peer helpers and volunteered with Key Club.” Said Lo.
Although some students had strong opinions others felt unaffected by COVID in their freshman year but continued to leave legacies behind, although there are more regrets amongst the people who didn’t have feelings towards the COVID year.
“It didn’t really bother me much,” Said Qwinten Hood (12). His legacy that he believed he left behind athletically is by showing work ethic and the will to never give up.
“I wish I could’ve slowed down, it felt too fast and I wish I could’ve made more friends,” said Hood.
“It didn’t affect me much, we just had to wear masks,” said Jackson Horwarth (12).
Horwarth believes that the legacy he’s leaving behind is a fun one, where he and his friends would always drive around and get ice cream. Even though Horwarth left a fun legacy he did regret not joining more sports and creating an athletic legacy.
