OUR Final Year

Being a high school senior in the year 2020 is questionable. To us, the elimination of being physically present in class and having to do online school is no vacation. We are now missing out on valuable time we get to share with our friends, coaches, and teachers before we graduate. We - graduating students - are sitting in isolation due to COVID-19, anxiously looking at our calendars, watching every event we had planned just pass by. I personally have a severe case of FOMO (Fear of Missing Out). Students are not only missing out on the special year end events but are also missing the daily moments that build a family bond between the staff and students.

Social distancing provides a lot of time to think. During all this thinking, we start to realise we may never be able to take the field again with some of our best friends and teammates. Milestones we’ve waited for our whole lives have been robbed from us; like events such as Cadet Ball, Prom, and our Graduation Ceremony. Some people won't understand, but these are the nights that give us closure from high school, the nights spent celebrating all those late hours of studying for the test you may or may not pass.

My local high school has cancelled in person classes until further notice. My School is giving us students as much hope as we need, by telling us that we will return to classes, we will still get our Prom and we will still walk across the stage to receive our diplomas. All of this starts to seem unlikely and that hope slowly fades away as I check the daily news with my parents each morning. I think of the memories I could be making with the girls I would have never talked to off the turf during rugby season. I think of my own final high school game and try to imagine what it would feel like. I know that these moments are closing a chapter of my life, but a new chapter is beginning. Of course, along with all of this, there is the emotional toll as well. I could probably write a speech about how much not being with the KES rugby team for one final season has impacted me. Had I known last year was going to be my last season at King’s-Edgehill, I could have mentally prepared myself. Unfortunately, nobody could have predicted what would happen this year.

I have an unquestionable personal and unique relationship with King's-Edgehill School. My second family of teachers, coaches, staff and all administration at KES is one I will never forget and will cherish forever; Mr. Campbell is one of them. Over the past few years, I have had the privilege to know him as not only a coach, but a mentor as well. Advice and guidance are two of the many traits Mr. Campbell offers me. I could not be more grateful for the constant support and encouragement I have received over the past few years. KES has undoubtedly become my second home. I spent 80% of my time per week on campus; I can only imagine how boarding students must feel. Boarding students have spent 100% of their time on campus and have created even stronger bonds with their house parents who have truly become a second set of parents; I feel for them, I really do.

Being in these types of situations, such as being quarantined, you have to become selfless and think of the families who have lost loved ones. In some cases, there have been more than one death from the same family. This is a pandemic which means it is a worldwide problem and is much bigger than us. No amount of money or your status in society can keep you from escaping this crisis, should you put yourself at risk. NO ONE is immune to this virus.

Thankfully, not all hope is lost. Although our specific vision of our last days of high school is not what we thought it would be, I am reminded of the Dr. Seuss quote: “Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened”. The best we can do now is hope for the best and be kind to one another (from a distance). We never know when it's the last time we’ll see each other.  We are all in this together, NATIONALLY, to “flatten the curve”.

Rugby Player