SHELBY TOWNSHIP, Mich. – A group that gets talked about often during coronavirus conversations is the elderly, because senior citizens are especially susceptible to the virus. But there’s another group of seniors -- high school seniors -- who have also been greatly affected.
Prom, competitions, sports, concerts and graduation have all been either canceled or cast into uncertainty. The coronavirus has left behind a group of students disappointed about losing their senior year of high school.
“It’s a big bummer,” senior Kennedy Thomas said.
“It’s really upsetting,” senior Savannah Auito said.
Local 4′s Nick Monacelli kept his social distancing in the parking lot of Eisenhower High School as he heard from seniors giving their take on the coronavirus.
There’s a lot of anxiety from students on social media regarding their friends and their futures.
“We’re all going our separate ways next year, and it’s going to be really hard to all get back together," Auito said.
Then there are the big events -- games, academic competitions, concerts, prom and spring break. Many have been canceled and others are in limbo.
“Right now we have our elections for student council, my first year playing lacrosse -- both of those have been canceled," senior Michael Yancy said.
“All of our competitions have been canceled,” senior Bailey Reed said. “I’m not able to compete my last year, so last year was my last season, technically.”
Graduation is one of their biggest concerns.
“We work 12 years to walk across that stage and get our diploma, and now it’s like, you could be walking to your mailbox to get it,” Reed said.
“We’ve waited all year for these things,” Thomas said.
“It’s hard to understand unless you’re a senior,” Auito said. “(These are the) things we’ve looked forward to our whole lives.”
But they said they understand the precautions necessary to fight the coronavirus.
“I get it,” Auito said. “I have two great-grandmothers in their 90s. I understand. I’m just a little upset about it.”
“I understand,” Yancy said. “I am really upset about it, but there’s nothing we can do about it."
“I read somewhere that we’ll never know if we overreacted, but we’ll know if we under-reacted, so I totally understand that," Reed said.