Like the other 3.7 million high school seniors across the country, Ochlie has had the last stretch of school pulled out from under her by this global pandemic. With the entire spring season turned upside down, COVID-19 is leaving in its wake, entire rites of passage of the ultimate year of k-12.
For our girls, this season has felt especially devastating. The majority of them are failing one or more classes when they first come to CORRAL because of their compounding risk factors. To them, graduating high school means more than simply receiving a diploma, it is a huge sense of accomplishment that they never thought they were capable of achieving. And given the current circumstances, celebrating with their family, peers and teachers is out of the question.
“2020 was the year everyone was pumped for. It was my year of many firsts, and I was enjoying all of it. I remember the couple weeks before the coronavirus. I remembered not even knowing what it was, I had seen memes about it on Snapchat thinking it was just a new trend going around. And then I had seen it again this time thinking that the coronavirus was a type of sickness from the Corona beer. I was pretty clueless about what it really was. I finally decided it was time to actually find out what exactly was the coronavirus. When I was finally informed, I had then started thinking, “The coronavirus will not reach North Carolina. Nothing ever happens here anyway.” As it got closer and closer, I became more conscious.
I didn’t think it would affect my senior year that badly. But that soon changed when schools closed down for two weeks, which had turned into school not opening again until May 15th. I definitely had not seen this coming at all. I was as upset as my other peers had been; I was just worried what it meant for the end of the school year and graduation. I had worked so hard to get where I am today, the countless late-night studying and cramming, the endless work done in Mrs Bradford’s history class, and it just does not sit right with me that I don’t know what’s going to happen in the next coming weeks.
As the coronavirus updates bring us something new every day, I hope it gets better and that all my fellow seniors have the chance to walk the stage and bring our chapter of high school to a close. I can find closure knowing that I did well in my last year of high school, thanking everyone that has helped in getting to this point. I’ve always been that type of girl to “go with the flow” so I will continue to be optimistic and see what life has in store for me next. As for the coronavirus, I hope no other class experiences this type of loss in their high school career.”
If you feel it in your heart, you may draft a congratulatory note to either or both of CORRAL’s two seniors: Maddie and Ochlie. Please mail the card(s) to our Kildaire Farm Campus: 3620 Kildaire Farm Rd, Cary, NC 27518. Thank you for your support!
