Stories from Class of 2021, a pandemic senior year

The Class of 2021 experienced a senior year like no other, a full year of remote or hybrid learning amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and changes to long-held rights of passage such as senior events, prom, sports and graduations. The Daily Chronicle invited locals from the Class of 2021 to reflect on the year, and what the way forward looks like as the world reopens. Here are just a few of their stories.

Katherine Theriault

School: Sycamore High School

School titles: President of the Interact Club, member of Spartan TV and the Technical Entertainment Crew (TEC), teacher’s assistant for TV production class, student speaker at graduation

Future goals: Attend St. Mary’s College in Indiana to study speech language pathology

Advice for underclassmen: “Don’t take any day for granted. You never know what will happen next. It may seem boring and miniscule now, but it could one day be one of your favorite memories. Instead of being sad about missing out, be grateful every day.”

Her story: Katherine Theriault has been remote learning since March 13, 2020. She decided to continue remote learning due to concerns regarding afterschool activities and contact tracing.

Theriault describes remote learning as “a different way to learn,” and says she hasn’t turned in a piece of paper in more than a year.

“At the beginning of the year, I lost a lot of motivation to learn and some of the work seemed like busy work,” she said. “But messaging and talking with my friends and working together on homework really helped. I think it depends on how you learn and how much self-motivation you have. My friends and I motivate each other.”

One of Theriault’s more unusual classes this past year was a mind and body P.E. class.

“I’d roll out of bed at 6:58 for my 7 a.m. class,” she said. “We’d do yoga in front of the camera. It was weird seeing people in little squares and having their cats cross the front of the screen. On Fridays, we’d listen to a podcast while walking.”

On some days, she had two hours between classes, so she had time to run errands and go grocery shopping.

Theriault said that the pandemic has led her to change her plans for the future. She used to want to go into TV production or marketing, but realized she wanted to follow a profession that allowed her to help others of all ages, so she chose speech language pathology.

“Before, I wanted to go to a big college, and then I began to look at smaller schools,” she said. “I didn’t want to pay full tuition to sit in front of my computer. I’ve decided to attend a small, all-girls school because I’ve missed that teacher-student connection this past year.”

By learning remotely this past year, Theriault said she has learned life skills she will use in college and as an adult.

“Applying for college and scholarships, a full schedule of classes and extracurriculars all at once were a lot to handle, but I know I’ve gained time managing skills,” she said. “It also made me realize what’s important to me. I’ve missed spending time with my friends. Grades are important, but I missed the whole senior year experience. The slamming of lockers was something I never thought I’d miss. I also really miss interactions with teachers.”

Ja’Mari Newell

School: DeKalb High School

School titles: Varsity track and field and cross country, vice president of student council, member of Youth Engaged in Philanthropy

Future goals: To attend college and run track

Advice for underclassmen: “Get involved and keep busy, because that will help you stay motivated. Always go with the flow and have fun, because you never know what’s going to happen.”

His story: Ja’Mari Newell started his senior year knowing that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, “things were definitely going to be different.”

“It wasn’t a typical senior year that others experience,” he said. “But you have to have some sunshine with the rain. Although we didn’t have a homecoming or sports like we usually do, we did have a prom. I was just really happy to come back to school in person.”

Newell said that his favorite classes were AP Biology and P.E. Conditioning, and that being able to participate in track “was the best part of my year.”

“I love track, and it’s near and dear to my heart,” he said. “The possibility of not having track this year made me realize not to take things for granted.”

Newell said that seeing his classmates every day is what he’ll miss the most about high school.

“At first, we were thrown together and forced to be together at school, but being around each other, a bond formed that I didn’t think would happen,” he said. “Saying hi to everyone and seeing their smiles was the highlight of my day.”

Evan Haag

School: Genoa-Kingston High School

School titles: President of the G-K chapter of the National Honors Society, student ambassador and tight end and defensive back on the football team

Future goals: Attend the Florida Institute of Technology to study meteorology

Advice for underclassmen: “Time goes by way faster than you think. Time doesn’t stop for anyone. Take mental pictures: walking down a crowded hallway, attending your favorite class, cheering at a Tuesday night basketball game, going to prom. Enjoy the journey and soak it all in.”

His story: What Evan Haag missed the most about spending his senior year during the COVID-19 pandemic was having his entire class together. Fortunately, restrictions eased enough to allow his entire class to graduate together at the NIU Convocation Center on May 22.

“We had school remotely online, and then we were spaced apart in our classrooms, so I missed being together as a class,” he said. “Getting us all together for graduation was the highlight of my senior year. We were able to have all of the students and their families, close to 2,000 people there. Graduation felt normal, and like my senior year had some closure.”

Another memory Haag has of his senior year was the school’s undefeated football season.

“We had workouts throughout the winter and started practicing in March,” he said. “We had three away games, and we won them all. Our fourth game was our homecoming game, our first game at home. Two hours before the game’s start, we were notified of a COVID exposure, and our season ended.”

Haag said that learning this year was “unlike anything I had ever experienced before.”

“Remote learning was a lot different and better than last spring, although it was tough being at home,” he said. “I have two siblings, so we always were having WiFi issues, we had to agree about who was using what room. At first, it was weird having class at home. Then, once we were back to in-person learning, seeing everyone in the classroom felt weird because online started to feel normal.”

When applying for college, Haag sent applications “in every direction,” including universities in Iowa, Oklahoma, North Carolina and Florida.

“I always considered going away for college, and after being stuck inside with nowhere to go all year, I decided to widen my search area,” he said. “I’m excited to leave Illinois, but I’m going to miss high school.”

Vanessa Duffy

School: DeKalb High School

School titles: Varsity volleyball and president of student council

Future goals: Attend Stetson University in Florida to study business

Advice for underclassmen: “Be involved as much as you can. I missed out on so much my senior year because it couldn’t happen. I missed out on clubs, sports and spirit week. Time really does fly by. Make the best of everything.”

Her story: Vanessa Duffy describes her senior year as “crazy.”

“We were playing everything ear-by-ear, we never knew what the next day would look like,” she said. “You never knew what to expect.”

Because her school’s locker bays were not open, she missed stopping to converse with friends between classes.

“I can’t even remember what some of my classmates look like without masks,” she said. “I don’t even know what some of my teachers really look like.”

She said she also missed “the normalcy of school” during her senior year.

“I missed the regular atmosphere of school,” she said. “We had to be spread out in classrooms, wear masks and social distance.”

Duffy said that she has been constantly fearful of COVID-19, “not because I’m worried about getting it, but because I’m worried about bringing it home to my family.”

“My biggest concern was getting it and bringing it home to my parents or grandparents,” she said. “It was really scary at first because nobody knew what was happening or what to do. I think we were all freaking out. We all had to adapt so fast. It started with a two-week shutdown, and here we are more than a year later.”