In 2002, then-President George W. Bush established the Department of Homeland Security in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Also in 2002, Facebook supplanted Friendster as the “it” social network. The TV show “American Idol” had only just premiered.
The year 2002 was also the year in which most of the graduating class of 2020 was born. Those high school seniors are coming of age in some strange times.
“I think it’s interesting that the world changed right when we were born,” said Heidi Bucking, a Pierson High School senior, “and now it’s going to change again right when we’re going to be adults.”
Emma Silvera, an East Hampton High School senior, said it felt odd to be living through something that her generation’s children will read in history books. “You wouldn’t think something like this would happen during your lifetime, but it kind of just hit everyone,” she said. “Everyone’s going to be talking about this in the future.”
Almost universally, high school seniors here are lamenting the loss of a special year; what’s supposed to be a series of rites of passage and moments to remember is playing out in online classrooms, Zoom, and Facetime, or not playing out at all. The last varsity game. The last final exam. Spring break trips. Honor society inductions. Senior banquet or prom. Yearbook signing. Graduation.
“There are no plans to have a virtual ceremony. I am doing everything in my power to avoid that type of event,” Adam Fine, the East Hampton High School principal, said this week. He said he is working with local officials “on what is appropriate and allowed. We will design the ceremony around those guidelines.”
His peers in other Long Island districts are hopeful that they won’t have to hold remote ceremonies, but are weighing their options, including pushing the pomp and circumstance off until August. Jeff Nichols, the principal of Pierson High School and the interim Sag Harbor school superintendent, said his district is “considering alternative formats” and monitoring the news from New York State. Robert Hauser, the Bridgehampton School superintendent, and Michael Miller, the school principal, met online this week with a company that hosts virtual graduations.
The governor “may extend this whole order with public schools all the way through the opening of the next school year. That would even nix an August graduation,” Mr. Hauser said.
“It does feel like terrible timing,” Wells Woolcott, East Hampton’s senior class salutatorian, said of the coronavirus outbreak. “Everyone in my year is sort of in agreement with that. It was right in the middle of the time when grades aren’t of so much importance, and a time of celebrating and being around a community that you might not see again until 10 years from now. The biggest thing is that people feel this is really valuable time to see friends and make those memories, and that’s no longer an option. Facetime and Zoom are not a full replacement for the memory-making that would happen in person.”
Dylan Kruel had landed a sweet role in the Pierson High School musical production of “Urinetown,” which effectively got flushed when the governor closed schools. “I liked the show, too. It’s a really good one,” Dylan said. “I wasn’t planning on doing theater in college because I didn’t think it was for me. Since I got a really good role in the musical, it gave me an epiphany that maybe I could do it. I need the closure, so I feel like I need to do at least one show in college to have that.”
Dylan is headed to Tulane University in the fall. He is a candidate for the International Baccalaureate diploma at Pierson after taking a rigorous, two-year academic program. But to his disappointment, his I.B. exams have been canceled, and the students will be given “predicted” scores. “In my opinion, I still would like to be tested on the material. I’ve tried really hard these last two years,” Dylan said.
The seniors at Pierson are special, he said, because everyone gets along so well. “We all make plans together and nobody is ever left out. That’s what’s really special about this class, and that’s what I’m going to miss a lot,” Dylan said.
Heidi, who will study ocean engineering at the University of New Hampshire after she graduates from Pierson, is disappointed that prom has been canceled, as has Whaler Day and the physics class trip to Six Flags Great Adventure.
“Sometimes a group of our friends will go to the beach and face the back of our cars to each other in a circle, and we sit on the back and hang out,” Heidi said. “There will be five of us watching the sunset or something. We talk about senior year a lot — how much we wish we could be spending our last times together. We’re going to be going our separate ways in August.”
At first, Julian Cheng, a Bridgehampton senior, liked having the chance to sleep in on some weekdays. But when the Bridgehampton robotics team’s trip to Florida was canceled, that’s when the reality started setting in.
“That was going to be fun,” he said. “It’s sad that we’ve missed this opportunity. Yeah. It’s sad.”
Julian, who will study mechanical engineering at City College of New York next year, misses school right now. “I definitely think it’s the right idea to still stay at home,” he said.
But being 18 right now is “still really exciting,” Julian said. “I feel like I’m optimistic. I do not know if I’m being overly optimistic . . . but I’m ready. I’m unsure of how next year will go specifically because of coronavirus. Is this a temporary problem or something that changes humanity’s whole lifestyle?”
Emma is also feeling optimistic, saying that “everyone’s doing their best. I’m not taking this whole thing too hard.”
The East Hampton senior has dug into schoolwork, softball, and spending time with family. The outfielder and sometimes shortstop had been really looking forward to the sports season this year, which was recently canceled officially. But the game is far from over for her, as she will play softball at Smith College starting next year.
This week, Mr. Fine gave Wells and Samantha Prince, the East Hampton valedictorian, the signal that they should start writing their graduation speeches. Wells, who will study architecture in college, said he has had a lot of time to reflect.
“I’m really lucky that I don’t have to worry about not having a roof over my head or where my next meal is coming from,” he said. “It could be a really valuable time to figure out what’s important to you. A lot of people will come out stronger than when they came into this.”